Ramaphosa: More research being done on making abuse of political power a crime

President Cyril Ramaphosa said that further research was being done on making the abuse of political power a criminal offence.

This is one of over 200 recommendations of the state capture commission which the president said were being implemented through various legislative proposals.

The president said that these proposals would address areas such as public procurement and the involvement of politicians in administrative matters.

Ramaphosa was writing in his latest newsletter on how to prevent state capture now and in the future.

President Ramaphosa said that in October last year, he submitted the government’s plan to Parliament in relation to the implementation of the commission’s recommendations.

He said that since then, a lot of progress had been made to implement various parts of the plan.

This included criminalizing the abuse of political power and also addressing the conduct of public servants, the intelligence services, money laundering, and electoral reforms.

Ramaphosa said eight of the 14 new laws or legislative amendments identified in the implementation plan had been approved by the Cabinet and tabled in Parliament.

Ramaphosa said the State Capture Commission made 205 recommendations on the criminal investigation and possible prosecution of people and companies implicated in evidence before the commission.

The president also said that they’d put forward clear recommendations on whistleblower protection and incentives such as criminalizing threats against whistleblowers and creating a fund for whistleblowers dismissed because of their disclosures.