<\/p>\n
A critical issue highlighted by the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Alleged Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System is the urgent need for South Africa\u2019s criminal justice system to digitally leapfrog into 2026.<\/p>\n
Criminals and organised crime syndicates made that leap years ago and continue to exploit technology and gaps in a primarily manual system. They do this with a smile on their face, says Anton du Plessis, CEO of Business Against Crime and a former deputy national director of public prosecutions.<\/p>\n
Listen\/read:<\/p>\n
The Madlanga Commission is forcing the country to confront a deeply uncomfortable reality.<\/p>\n
Institutions responsible for enforcing the law and protecting South Africans have made themselves vulnerable to criminal infiltration, political interference and internal dysfunction.<\/p>\n
Criminals must realise they \u201ccannot game the system anymore\u201d, Du Plessis said during the monthly Espresso Briefs, hosted by Nortons Inc, a boutique firm of lawyers and economic specialists.<\/p>\n
During the discussion, he also said commissions of inquiries are not the cure. \u201cThey are the X-ray, and what we need now is treatment in the form of prosecutions, disciplinary action and real institutional reform.\u201d<\/p>\n
Window of opportunity<\/strong><\/p>\n Reform must be measured not by promises, but by cases built, assets recovered, witnesses protected and criminals convicted.<\/p>\n The Madlanga Commission must be the \u201cNugent moment\u201d for the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Nugent Commission of Inquiry investigated the governance and tax administration of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) during the state capture era. It made 26 practical recommendations that were mostly adhered to by former commissioner Edward Kieswetter and his leadership team.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to drive the reform through, but the window will not stay open for long. There is an extreme sense of urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch\/read:<\/p>\n Kieswetter identified the \u201crotten apples\u201d within the organisation and pursued them aggressively through criminal investigations and prosecutions, as well as suspension and labour processes.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot reform an institution when the people wanting to block reform hold the levers or power,\u201d Du Plessis remarked.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Another prerequisite for meaningful reform, he argued, is recognising the important and transformative role of technology.<\/p>\n \u201cKieswetter harnessed the technological advancements and communicated smartly about it. The message was clear: there is no more hiding \u2013 the system is watching you.\u201d<\/p>\n Practical mechanisms for change<\/strong><\/p>\n Anthony Norton, managing director of Nortons Inc, referred to a proposal by David Lewis, founding executive director of Corruption Watch, that all senior police officers should reapply for their positions.<\/p>\n He acknowledged that the suggestion may seem controversial.<\/p>\n However, given the evidence presented before the Madlanga Commission, he argued that it no longer appears so contentious. Norton asked whether a complete overhaul of the senior leadership of the South African Police Service (SAPS) is now necessary.<\/p>\n Listen\/read:<\/p>\n Du Plessis mentioned the 70-20-10 principle, where 70% of people are hardworking and committed, 20% are sitting on the fence where factional politics happens, and only 10% are truly rotten.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It is that 10%, he said, that must be removed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Other more practical mechanisms are extensive vetting of senior officers such as compulsory lifestyle audits, in-depth financial disclosures and conflict of interest checks.<\/p>\n Norton said these measures amount to the root-and-branch reforms needed in the criminal justice system. \u201cThese are baseline initiatives that should be implemented immediately,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Read:<\/p>\n According to Du Plessis, there is a need to dispel the fear that the problem is too big.<\/p>\n The approach must be targeted. It must also be prosecution-led, with a small team of prosecutors with leading investigators under one command structure and preferably in one building and supported by dedicated courts.<\/p>\n He also called for long-overdue amendments to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Act to give the NPA director the powers they need.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Director of Public Prosecutions is the least powerful powerful person in the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Du Plessis added that the Asset Forfeiture Unit must be able to work in parallel. The most effective way to prevent Stalingrad tactics, he argued, is to move swiftly to seize the proceeds of crime.<\/p>\n Modernisation and digital evidence<\/strong><\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Police station interfaces, digital evidence units, and the use and analysis of data must be modernised.<\/p>\n The private sector has \u201cterabytes of data\u201d that can legally be shared with the state.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Part of the transformation is building forensic and cyber skills pipelines \u2013 seconding specialists, training investigators and prosecutors, enabling forensic accounting and blockchain tracing and cybercrime procurement analytics.<\/p>\n Listen\/read:<\/p>\n Du Plessis further said that the private sector has a vital role to play in supporting witnesses and whistleblowers.<\/p>\n This support extends beyond funding independent whistleblower programmes, legal advice and trauma counselling but also offering support in terms of re-employability.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality in SA is that whistleblowing is an extremely dangerous place to be, and especially if you are going to transition into a witness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cWe have to reduce the need for whistleblowers to testify in court, especially in complex organised crime cases. The best way to do it is to enhance the state\u2019s ability to engage with digital evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n Du Plessis added that the country cannot prosecute its way out of organised crime and corruption alone.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need a much stronger focus on prevention and upstream interventions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n #Criminal #justice #system #reform #match #criminals #digital #advantage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A critical issue highlighted by the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Alleged Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System is the urgent need for South Africa\u2019s criminal… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[423,6215,11722,5377,701,4845,2648,950],"class_list":["post-9825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-advantage","tag-criminal","tag-criminals","tag-digital","tag-justice","tag-match","tag-reform","tag-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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