×

We've got news for you.

Register on SowetanLIVE at no cost to receive newsletters, read exclusive articles & more.
Register now

'A chance to start with a clean slate': Thuli Madonsela urges SA to consider amnesty for the corrupt

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela says SA should consider lowering the consequences for people who played a “minimal but critical” role in corruption. File photo.
Former public protector Thuli Madonsela says SA should consider lowering the consequences for people who played a “minimal but critical” role in corruption. File photo.
Image: THULI DLAMINI

“I think some people would self-disclose if they knew they would be given an opportunity to do so without dire consequences.”

There are the words of former public protector Thuli Madonsela, who is urging South Africans to consider offering amnesty to corrupt individuals.

Speaking on SAFM on Monday, Madonsela said SA should consider lowering the consequences for corrupt people who played a “minimal but critical” role in the act.

She said the thought was based on two things.

"The one is from what is happening at the state capture inquiry. The information has been trickling in very slowly and the picture emerging is not always complete, which means the inquiry has to do the digging. There aren't enough implicated people coming forward.

“The second reason is, I met a former colleague who now works at Harvard University. I met him at the World Bank years back and he had worked as mayor in Bolivia. He found that sometimes you have to let go of certain things and give people some kind of amnesty.”

Madonsela argued that giving amnesty to corrupt people would allow the country to start with a clean slate.

This is not the first time Madonsela has made this kind of suggestion. SowetanLIVE sister publication HeraldLIVE  previously reported that Madonsela said corruption amnesty would allow the country “to clean the system”.

Speaking at the Nelson Mandela Bay Leadership Summit 2020 last week, Madonsela said:  “We might want to consider amnesty. I know people don’t like it when I say that. It’s the second time I say we might need a truth and reconciliation kind of thing around corruption.

“It’s just so systemic that if people can self-disclose without huge consequences, it will allow us to clean the system.”

TimesLIVE

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.