EDITORIAL | Please release the report, Mr President

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In response, President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the deployment of soldiers to KwaZulu-Natal, the worst-affected province at the time. The deployment was slow, and Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, then defence and military veterans minister, seemed to drag her feet in implementing the president’s order.

As is his wont, the president asked for an inquiry into the riots. The report came, but still no consequences.

Instead of sacking her for defying his order and mischaracterising the mayhem, he elevated Mapisa-Nqakula to the position of speaker of the National Assembly.

Earlier this year, as part of efforts to thaw relations with the US, he ordered that Iran, a member of the Brics+ club, should not actively participate in international military drills in Simon’s Town.

It has since emerged that the order was conveyed to defence and military veterans minister Angie Motshekga, a key political ally of the president. Motshekga claimed she had cascaded the order.

Another inquiry led by a former judge was commissioned, and a report has now been delivered to the president’s desk.

His office has confirmed receipt but went on to say the report would not be published because of national security concerns. That really misses the point.

The main issue is not security; it is, rather, who decided to defy the commander-in-chief’s order and that of his defence minister. That is both a public interest issue and a command and control one.

Equally worrying is the president’s tendency to run the country “by commissions”. Faced with any tough decision to make, President Ramaphosa has often resorted to commissions, most of whose findings are neatly packed in his office.

His record of implementing the commissions’ findings is not inspiring.

Only a few people fingered by the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture are facing prosecution. None is in prison. Zuma, now head of the MK party, was jailed not for state capture but for defying a subpoena to appear before former chief justice Raymond Zondo.

He was only charged for corruption related to the arms deal.

Mapisa-Nqakula is now on trial for nothing related to defying the president’s order to deploy soldiers to KZN. She is on trial for allegedly soliciting a bribe during her tenure as defence minister.

Ramaphosa came to office promising a new dawn: sleaze-free governance and accountability.

The Madlanga commission, headed by former deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, has shown that corruption has continued during the president’s seven-and-a-half-year term in office.

It is heartening to see some consequence management arising from the Madlanga commission. But some key commission reports continue gathering dust in the presidency.

The reason often given is the sensitivity of some of the reports.

It boggles the mind why the president found it acceptable to allow intelligence operatives to testify in accountability structures, like the Zondo commission, but now won’t release a report.

Billions of rand in taxpayers’ money are spent on these commissions, and nothing really comes of them.

There are better ways of handling sensitive national security matters. Burying them isn’t one of them.

At the very least, Ramaphosa needs to release a redacted version of the report. The news media faces significant obstacles in taking legal action to compel him to release it.

The public deserves to know who defied his order, why and what will happen to them.

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