South Africa’s disgraced former police commissioner (and former president of Interpol) Jackie Selebi has been sentenced to fifteen years in prison after being found guilty of corruption last month. South Gauteng High Court Judge Joffe Meyer described Selebi as “an embarrassment” and a “stranger to the truth” in the witness box. “At no stage during the trial did the accused display any indication of remorse. The accused lied and fabricated evidence in an effort to escape the consequences of his conduct.”
I have to admit, when asked last month what I thought would happen to Selebi, I assumed that the sentence would be light even as the rhetoric from the judge would sound harsh.I presumed that Selebi knows where the bodies are buried, as it were, and that political pressure would, as a result, come to the fore.
What I am now curious to see is whether the media coverage will give equal credence to the conviction and sentencing (which Selebi has two weeks to appeal) as to the corruption itself. The narrative about corruption in South African politics (and in Africa generally) is quite well known. But will the fact that Selebi has been nailed and sentenced be front-and-center as well, and will the conviction and sentencing become part of the narrative. After all, anyone watching American politics in recent weeks knows that there is plenty of corruption in the US as well. But the United States does not have a global reputation for corruption. If we are going to take prurient looks into South African corruption it seems to me that we ought to also pay attention when the corrupt are forced to pay the price.
The other question going forward is whether or not South Africa will be able to police malfeasance effectively given the dissolution of the Scorpions, the controversial but effective organization devoted to ferreting out corruption. The police will need to step up their efforts if they are to quell worries that the disbanding of the Scorpions also meant the end of serious pursuit of the corrupt.
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