state capture in africa

224 Pages·2017·2.26 MB·English

The term state capture was first used to describe a pervasive form of
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meta-corruption in former Soviet bloc states after the Cold War. In this
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edited volume, leading voices on democracy and governance in Africa
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explore the applicability of the idea to the African context and ask the
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question: 'How “captured” are African states in 2018?’ E CAPTURE IN
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Despite the fact that regular elections have become the norm on the A
continent, the attainment and consolidation of substantive P AFRICA
democracy, including socioeconomic transformation and social T
justice, remain elusive for many African democracies, even some of U
those viewed as relatively mature. R
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One of the key prerequisites for the consolidation of democracy is that I
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there should be established 'rules of the game'. State capture
undermines these rules by eroding democratic processes and state A
institutions, thus depriving citizens of the rights and benefits that F OOLLDD TTHHRREEAATTSS,,
should be provided by the state. This leads to a system in which power R
is systematically diverted from citizens, unravelling democratic gains I NNEEWW PPAACCKKAAGGIINNGG??
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and socioeconomic transformation.
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The contributors to this volume explore the concept of state capture
and its place in democratic discourse in Africa, analysing examples
ranging from South Africa to Madagascar, the United States to the
former Soviet bloc, in an effort to contribute meaningfully to the
debate about the consolidation of transitional democracies.
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ISBN: 978-1-920446-77-2 C
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I EDITED BY
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MELANIE MEIROTTI &
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GRANT MASTERSON
9 781920 446772 ?
Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa
State Capture in Africa Cover Final
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 9:11:18 AM
STATE CAPTURE IN AFRICA
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STATE CAPTURE IN AFRICA
Old ThREATS, NEw PACkAgINg
Edited by
Melanie Meirotti and Grant Masterson
Foreword by
Justice Albie Sachs
Former judge of the South African Constitutional Court
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Published by EISA
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Johannesburg
South Africa
P.O Box 740
Auckland Park
2006
South Africa
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
www.eisa.org.za
©EISA 2018
ISBN: 978-1-920446-77-2
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of EISA.
EISA is a non-partisan organisation which seeks to promote democratic principles, free
and fair elections, a strong civil society and good governance at all levels of African
society.
EISA gratefully acknowledges the financial support for this project from the Embassy of
Sweden and the Open Society Foundation for South Africa.
Copy editor: Pat Tucker
layout and design: Sue Sandrock
Cover design and printing: Corpnet design
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CONTENTS
Abbreviations and Acronyms vi
Foreword
Justice Albie Sachs vii
Introduction 1
SECTION 1 CONCEpTuAlISINg STATE CApTurE
Chapter 1 State capture: Conceptual considerations
Tom Lodge 13
Chapter 2 What’s new about ‘state capture’?
Roger Southall 29
Chapter 3 Africa Australis: Imperium in imperio?
Anthoni van Nieuwkerk 44
SECTION 2 CApTurINg dEmOCrACy: ThE hOllOWINg OuT OF STATE
INSTITuTIONS
Chapter 4 Encoding the rules: Capturing the state through the electoral process
Olufunto Akinduro and Grant Masterson 59
Chapter 5 State capture and the exploitation of natural resources: The ‘rosewood
Scandal’ in madagascar
Randrara Rakotomalala 71
Chapter 6 State capture and elections in Zimbabwe
Derek Matyszak 91
Chapter 7 The battle for Kenya’s fourth estate: State capture and the Kenyan
media during the 2017 election
Nanjala Nyabola 104
Chapter 8 South Africa and the capture of the executive: undermining
transformation?
Mpumelelo Mkhabela 119
SECTION 3 CONSEquENCES OF CApTurE ANd lESSONS lEArNT
Chapter 9 Enter state capture: Citizen perceptions of corruption and the corrosion
of democratic culture and institutions
Jamy Felton and Sibusiso Nkomo 133
Chapter 10 State capture in the uSA: lessons and challenges for Sustainable
democracy in Africa
John Stremlau 150
Chapter 11 Corruption, state capture and anti-corruption initiatives in
post-communist countries
Alexander Stoyanov 167
Conclusion 183
Appendix 189
Consolidated bibliography 192
Contributors 209
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ABBREvIATIONS ANd ACRONymS
ANC African National Congress
AU African Union
CAR Central African Republic
ICC International Criminal Court
ICP Italian Communist Party
ICT information and communication technology
IEBC Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission
IEC Independent Electoral Commission
IFFs illicit financial flows
kBC kenya Broadcasting Corporation
kTN kenya Television Network
mAPAR miaraka Amin’i Presida Andry Rajoelina
mdC-T movement for democratic Change-Tsvangirai
NCIC National Cohesion and Integration Commission
NdP National development Plan
NgO non-governmental organisation
Nmg Nation media group
PEmmO Principles for Election management, monitoring and Observation
PSCU Presidential Strategic Communications Unit
RFI Radio France International
Rmg Royal media group
SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation
SAdC Southern African development Community
SARS South African Revenue Service
SdA Special defence Account
TIm Tiako i madagasikara
wmC white monopoly capital
ZANU-PF Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front
ZEC Zimbabwe Election Commission
ZlhR Zimbabwe lawyers for human Rights
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FOREwORd
Justice Albie Sachs, former judge of the South African Constitutional Court
In 1988, while I was in exile in mozambique, an attempt was made on my
life. I was blown up by South African security agents and lost my arm and
sight in one eye, but I survived. I felt liberated and overjoyed by my survival
and was totally convinced that, as I recovered, so South Africa, too, would
get better. The vengeance I sought for this attack, and those against countless
others, was what I called ‘soft vengeance’. This eventually came in the form
of democracy, an equal vote and self-determination for all South Africans.
The vote was of vital importance as it gave more than just power to the
people, it gave dignity and recognition to each and every person. It became a
symbol of a new, shared South African nationhood, of equal citizenship in a
united country. It declared, quite literally, that each person counted as much
as any other. Universal adult suffrage on a common voters’ roll was enshrined
as a foundational principle of our new Constitution. The right to vote and to
stand for political office was expressly included in the Bill of Rights.
These factors are inherently linked to the mandate of EISA as a leading
institution and an influential player in election monitoring and democracy.
EISA has played a pivotal role in observing the emergence of democracy
through the vote, first in South Africa and, over the decades, across the
continent. EISA has also expanded its mandate beyond observing elections
to supporting the entrenchment of democratic institutions. Entrenching
democracy was at the heart of EISA’s 2017 symposium as it considered whether
state capture is an obstacle to democratic consolidation in Africa.
looking back on our South African experience we recall that exile was
often very harsh. But one positive side effect was that we were able to live in
or travel to countries on all continents. We saw at first hand both societies that
were transforming themselves in very positive ways and societies in which
formerly brave freedom fighters had gone on to amass power and riches for
themselves, their families and their friends.
For that reason we built into the Constitution special protections for
upholding the rights of citizens and for maintaining the integrity of public
institutions such as the Electoral Commission, the Judicial Service Commission
and the Public Protector, to protect our democracy from state capture.
But having a beautiful Constitution alone will not make us a ‘beautiful
people’. we have to use the numerous institutions created by the Constitution
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to challenge abuses of power and corruption. The South African Constitution
not only aimed for perfection, it required us to guard against corruption. we
needed to guard against ourselves. we had to acknowledge that people are
capable of doing wrong in the name of doing right. Therefore, in constructing
the Constitution great attention was paid to creating protections against
slippage, personal ambition and the abuse of authority. The whole structure
of the Constitution emphasised the importance of public life being governed
by an organic body of humane norms and values. we also established a strong
Constitutional Court, with robust review powers, to ensure that this value
system would permeate all exercises of public power.
In recent years South Africa has learnt about serious attempts to hollow
out our democracy by capturing important state institutions. Fortunately
we have been able to witness the value of having strong and independent
constitutionally-created institutions. In particular, the complementary
relationship among the Office of the Public Protector, the Judicial Service
Commission and the Independent Electoral Commission, vindicated by the
Constitutional Court, has played a major role in the push back against ‘state
capture’.
Attacks on the institutions of democracy are by no means unique to South
Africa. As pointed out above, other African states have also experienced such
abuses of power. The diversion of power away from citizens to private interests
in a situation of state capture is especially worrying for African states that
fought so hard for liberation and self-determination for the people.
This book is an important contribution to deepening our understanding
of and provoking discourse about the idea of state capture. The contributing
authors give examples of abuses of power, manipulation of the rules and
regulations of state institutions and attacks on civic spaces.
There is a need to protect our hard won democratic mechanisms but
this requires a deep appreciation of the evolving threats they face. These
mechanisms give the public confidence in the Constitution and the integrity
of our democracy. Thank you, EISA, for bringing us together to share views
on how to spot the dangers and develop the necessary remedies.
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introduction
INTRODUCTION
Melanie Meirotti
The final decade of the twentieth century marked the beginning of a period
of political transition for a large number of states in Central and Eastern
Europe that had previously formed part of the now collapsed Soviet bloc. In
the decade that followed, these states began the transition from communism
to democracy and a liberal market economy.
In the course of this transition states adopted a variety of strategies and
timelines that resulted in different political and economic trajectories. During
this period the emergence of rampant corruption prompted a world Bank
study by researchers Joel hellman, geraint Jones and daniel kaufman, who
identified particular trends of corruption that came to be known as ‘state
capture’.
Now, two decades on, a ‘state capture’ (as opposed to corruption) narrative
has emerged and gained momentum in South Africa. Following the release in
2016 of a report by the Public Protector, entitled State of Capture, an escalating
number of political scandals and the leak of thousands of incriminating
emails between members of the immigrant gupta family and prominent
political representatives, there has been an increasing interest in analysing
the consequences of ‘state capture’ for the South African state.
A report published in 2017 by a group of academics and members of civil
society suggested that South Africa had experienced a silent coup that had
removed the ruling party from its place as the primary force for transformation
in society (State Capacity Research Project 2017). The state capture that has
played out in South Africa, in conjunction with the transitional status of
many African countries, raises the question of whether these countries, too,
are experiencing some form of state capture and what lessons can be learned
to safeguard transitional democracies in the region?
TRANSITIONAL DEMOCRACIES IN AFRICA
The goal of African liberation movements in the latter part of the twentieth
century was ‘political independence in a sovereign state under government
representing the majority of the previously colonized people’ (melber 2002).
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