JOHN STEENHUISEN: Combating corruption calls for consequences
Crime without punishment offers no disincentive to commit it, and repeat political offenders are still getting away with it
Spare a thought for the jailed former president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye. Just last week she had a further eight years added to her 24-year sentence for graft, influence-peddling and corruption, bringing her total sentence to a staggering 32 years. This is a spectacular reversal of fortune for the politician and former head of state, the first female president of her country. Park was ranked the most powerful woman in East Asia and the 11th most powerful female leader in the world. Today, she languishes in jail. Remarkably this all happened within the space of just less than two years. Park was impeached in the legislature in December 2016, criminally charged, then sentenced on the April 6 2018.
Contrast this to the situation SA finds itself, where it appears no consequences exist at all. It’s taken nearly a decade just to get former president Jacob Zuma anywhere near the dock to face up to the 783 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering. Almost two years on from th...
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