Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa and Washington, DC — On Friday, October 10, as the World Bank’s Annual Meeting starts in Washington, civil society groups and Indigenous People’s organisations across the world will campaign against the Bank. Our Land, Our Business, endorsed by over 235 organisations, will be staging ‘creative resistance’ events in Washington and nine other cities around the world. The Washington event is drawing support from a wide range of activist communities, including Occupy groups and representatives of affected communities from Kenya, Mali, and Ethiopia.
There is urgent concern that the Bank will use this meeting to both push its destructive ‘Doing Business’ rankings and dismantle operational protections for people and the planet, introduced after years of civil society lobbying due to unmitigated Bank project disasters. The trashing of these safeguards occurs as the Bank begins scaling up investment in the private sector – having refused to learn lessons from its stake in Lonmin at the Marikana massacre site – while ratcheting up risky mega-projects (like SA’s climate-killing Medupi) and imposing its pro-corporate ‘neoliberal’ philosophy.
In South Africa, civil society groups have demanded changes in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the Jubilee 2000 movement rose in the late 1990s. In three SA cities, organisations will hold a two-hour teach-in on Friday, originating at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society – starting with a screening of the SA Broadcasting Corporation’s Special Assignment May 2000 film Two Trevors go to Washington (at noon) – so as to review the history of World Bank financing of apartheid, current SA activity, and strategies to resist its unreformed ‘neoliberal’ agenda.
For example, the Bank’s annual Doing Business report was reviewed in 2013 by former SA Minister Trevor Manuel and found wanting because of indefensible ‘race-to-the-bottom’ country rankings – yet has not been changed. One reason for weaknesses on eco-social, ethical matters may be that Bank Vice President for Integrity (sic) Leonard McCarthy was unveiled this week as having sought his position in 2008 in order to escape serious charges of wrongdoing in Pretoria (thanks to release of the ‘Zuma Spy Tapes’).
Alnoor Ladha (The Rules), alnoor@therules.org, 1-917-971-7968
Robby Mogalaka (groundWork),robs@groundwork.org.za, 27-33-342-5662
Patrick Bond (Centre for Civil Society),pbond@mail.ngo.za, 27-83-425-1401
Makoma Lekalakala (Earthlife Africa),makoma@earthlife.org.za, 27-11-339-3662
Anuradha Mittal (Oakland Institute),amittal@oaklandinstitute.org, 1-510-469-5228
Trevor Ngwane (Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee),trevorngwane@gmail.com, 27-79-030-7657
Brian Ashley (Alternative Information and Development Centre),brian@amandla.org, 27-82-0857088
Des D’Sa (South Durban Community Environmental Alliance),desmond@sdceango.co.za, 27-83-982-6939
WORLD VS WORLD BANK CRITIQUE
Patrick Bond 9 October 2014
Is age 70 a dignified time for retirement, especially for policies and practices long considered destructive but now back in official favour at the World Bank
This country, after all, was the model ‘Knowledge Bank’ pilot after 1990,adopting policy advice but, before 2007, contracting only a dozen relatively small World Bank loans and investments. Experiences here, reminiscent of the Bank’s support for apartheid, help explain the upsurge in anger.
The new transcripts reveal Manuel’s apparent endorsement of McCarthy’s job application, even though his Machiavellian manipulation of SA politics and law should have disqualified him. Because of prolific corruption at the Bank, the job required a ‘squeaky-clean’candidate, McCarthy is heard to remark, so he needed someone to fib in an April 2008 job reference.
To his credit, in 2013, Manuel formally reviewed the Bank’s controversial Doing Business report and recommended it halt its biased,indefensible country-ranking system. But the Bank has just rejected his advice to drop the ranking system and, worse, is now also in the process of trashing its operational eco-social safeguard protections which were introduced after years of civil society lobbying due to unmitigated Bank project disasters.
The IMF also lent billions to the Pretoria regime during financial crises that were in part caused by pro-democracy activism in 1976 and 1982. After financial sanctions hit Pretoria hard in 1985, the destructive, corrupt Lesotho dam was another route the Bank used to fund apartheid, resulting in
>long-lasting problems for displacees.
In the same vein, more recent Bank activity includes funding Lonmin’s notorious Marikana operation, including the supposed construction of 5000 houses for workers. As the Bank bragged without apparent irony,“The company has embarked on a multi-stakeholder effort to help bring prosperity and sustainable development to the local communities in which it operates. Alongside Lonmin,there are three key stakeholder groups – the traditional authority, local government,and local mining companies – that share the same vision for socioeconomic
Cyril Ramaphosa admitted to the Farlam Commission in August that only three of the promised houses were built. The day after the 2012 massacre, the Center for International Environmental Law recommended that the Bank
>reconsider further extractive industries investment given such conditions - but to no avail. Two weeks later, Bank president Jim Yong Kim visited Johannesburg but neither visited nor even mentioned Marikana.
Kim, an anthropologist-medic, had co-founded the path-breaking NGO Partners in Health and ran World Health Organisation AIDS programmes. As a Harvard academic, the book Kim co-edited in 2000, Dying for Growth,demolished neoliberal Bank policies.
The coal-fired fiasco is a symbol of the Bank’s mega-project bias. In February 2010, the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) launched a global campaign to halt the Bank’s Medupi funding, because of its climate-wrecking, poverty-creating corruption. SDCEA coordinator Desmond D’Sa, winner of the 2014 Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa, played a leadership role in the 400 000-strong People’s Climate March in New York last month. He asks, “Should we again launch a World
Bank Bonds Boycott, to get investors to run on the Bank?”
Bond directs the UKZN Centre for Civil Society, one of the teach-in locales.
‘Ukumelana komhlaba neBhange’ njengokubona kweNingizimu
NguPatrick Bond (version originally published by SA Civil Society Information Service)
EThekwini, Mhlaziyisishogalolunye keMfumfu - EWashington, DC kanye namanye amazwe ayishumi emhlabeni wonke, azobhikisha mhlaziyishumi kuMfumfu bebhekene neBhange Lomhlaba ngesikhathi salo Somhlangano Wangonyaka.Abaningi bayabuza, ngabe iminyaka engamashumi ayisikhombisa akusona isikhathi sokuba lesisikhungo sidle endala, ikakhulukazi kwimigomo kanye nezindlela ekudala zabonakala ukuthi zicekela phansi kodwa manje esezibonakala sezibuyile futhi ezivunwa ngokwamukelekwa abaphethe?
Lokhu yasungulwa ngonyaka ka1944 ukuxhasa ngezimali izwekazi laseEurope elalikade licekeleke phansi ngenxa yempi futhi lemali izovuselela ukwakhiwa kwaleliyalizwekazi, lelibhange manje manje selibhekene nenkilayitheka yokungakholeki kakhulu, okwenziwa kube kubi kakhulu umkhankaso oqhamuka emiphakathini omusha obizwa ngokuthiwa, ‘Umhlaba umelene neBhange’.
Amadolobha amathathu amakhulukazi aseNingizimu Afrika azobe efundisa ngalomkhankaso ngenxa yokuthi lelizwe, emva kwakho konke phela, lasetshenziswa njengesibonelo, ‘seBhange Lolwazi’ emva konyaka ka1990
Umbuso kahulumeni omdala wobandlululo kanye nombuso wangelesisikhathi wentando yeningi bobabili bamukele umbono womgomo waleliBhange, kodwa uhulumeni omusha wentando yeningi wazibophezela imali yemboleko kanye nokutshala kusukela ngonyaka ka1994 kwaze kwaba yinkathi lapho sekuqhamuka izakhiwo ezimbili ezinkulukazi ezidale isiphithiphithi ezaxhaswa ngonyaka ka2007 kanye nangonyaka ka2010:isikhungo sezimayini yeplatinum eMarikana kanye nesikhungo samandla kagesi iMedupi.
Izakhamuzi zaseNingizimu Afrika ezikuleliBhange
Ngolwazi esinalo lapha, ume sesikhumbula ukuxhasa kwalelibhange ubandlululo eminyakeni edlule, kusiza kucaze ukwenyuka kwezinga lolaka. Futhi okunye, izakhamizi ezimbili ezisebuholini obuphezulu zaseNingizimu Afrika uTrevor Manuela kanye noLeonard McCarthy baye , ngezindlela ezahlukene, baba yingxenye yamahlazo manje enzeka edolobheni laseWashington.
Okunye okucashunwe ‘Kwinkulumo eqoshiwe kaZuma yezimpimpi’ enekelwe imphakathi emva kwempi ethathe isikhathi eside enkantolo ukukhombisa ukuganga kukaMcCarthy ngesikhathi engumholi ephalamende owayemelene nenkohlakalo. Njnegone yezintatheli ezihlonishwa kakhulu kulelizwe, umhleli wephephandaba iCity Press uFerial Haffajee uchze kanje kumbhalo wakhe wombono kulelisonto, “uMcCarthy wawenygwa ngamandla okubusa. Wacekela phansi inqubo yethu yezobulungiswa ebhekene nobugcwelegcwele. Kuyathusa kakhulu ukuthi uyisekela likamongameli weBhange Lomhlaba.”
Ukuqhubeka kweBhange ukulokhu livikela ‘isimilo’ sikaMcCarthy siyasolisa ikakhulukazi uma sesibheka ukusulwa kokushushiswa kwangenyanga kaApril ngo2009 koMongameli waseNingizimu Afrika uJacob Zuma kumacala ayebhekene nawo enkohlakalo. Lokukusulwa kwafika ngenxa yokumelana kukaMcCarthy nababemelene nozungu olwalekhelwe uZuma kanye nomkhuba wezimpimpi zimelene nezinye izimpimpi okuyinto ayeyutshalile. Iziqephu ezintsha ezibhaliwe ziveza ukuthi ukusekwa kukaMcCarthy nguManuel ngesikhathi esafuna ukusebenzela leliBhange, phezu kokuba indlela ayelawula ngayo ezombusazwe kanye nomthetho waseNingizimu Afrika yayinobuqili futhi kwakufanele imenze angawutholi lomsebenzi kuleliBhange. Ngenxa yenkohlakalo eyandile kuleliBhange, lomsebenzi wawufuna, umuntu ‘ongenasici’, lokho kwezwakala kushiwo nguMcCarthy, ngakho wayedinga umuntu owayezoqamba amanga ngesikhathi esaziswa ngokuba khona kwalomsebenzi nozomkhulumela.
Emva konyaka, njengobhululu othembekile waseWashington, uManuel wasiza iInternational Monetary Fund ukuthi ithole imali engu $750 wezigidigidi ngesikhathi sokugcina senkinga eyayibhekene nalelibhange. Njengomunye owayelokhu ecatshangwa ukuthi angaliphatha lelibhange noma iIMF, uManuel usanda kuthatha umhlalaphansi kwezombusazwe waseNingizimu Afrika futhi useqashwe yisikhondlakhondla sebhange lakaRothschilds ekuqaleni kwalenyanga.
Ngonyaka ka2013,uManuel wabuyekeza ngokusemthethweni inking yaleliBhange indlela eyayilenza ngayo ibhizinisi kumbiko walo iDoing Business futhi wase ebeka umbono wokuthi liyeka indlela yalo echemile, engamukelekile yendlela ababheka ngayo izwe. Kodwa iBhange futhi seliwunqabile umbono wakhe wokuqeda indlela elibheka ngayo izwe futhi, okubi kakhulu, ukuthi manje basezinhlelweni zokucekela phansi elikwenzayo ngokuvikela ezenhlalakahle zemvelo okwaqalwa emva kokuba kweminyaka yokukhankasa kwezinhlangano zemiphakathi ngenxa yezibhicongo zamaprojekti ezingenakulungiswa nalutho zalelibhange.
Ukukweleta okwakwenziwa yileliBhange kumbuso wobandlululo kusukela ngonyaka ka1955, ngesikhathi uhulumeni uboleka amagenerator ayeletha kagesi akwaEskom kubahwebi abamhlophe kanye nezakhamizi ezimhlophe (kodwa abamnyama bangathola lutho). IBhange alizange lixolise futhi alizange likhokhe imali yezinxephezelo ngokuxhasa umbuso wobandlululo, esikhundleni salokho baqhubeka nokuboleka imali kwababehola ngamazinga phakathi nendawo eNingizimu Afrika ngonyaka ka1967, phezu kokuba uAlbert Luthuli beno Martin Luther King babeqale ukukhankansela ukunswinywa kwaleli kwezomnotho ngonyaka ka1962.
IIMF ibolekise ngezigidigidi kumbuso wasePitoli ngesikhathi senkinga enkulu yezimali ingxenye yayo eyayidalwe ubushoshovu obabulwela intando yeningi ngonyaka ka1976 kanye nango1982. Emva kokuba unswinyo kwezezimali olwalumelene nobandlululo laqala lazwela kakhulu ePitoli ngonyaka ka1985, idamu lenkohlakalo laseLesotho khona ezweni laseLesotho kwakungenye indlela yokuthi iBhange iyenze ukuxhasa ubandlululo, okwaholela ezinkingeni ezathatha isikhathi eside zokuthi abantu balahlekelwe amakhaya abo.
INingizimu Afrika yagcina uwuzuzile umbuso wentando yeningi ngeminyaka yama90’s, futhi iBhange ladlal indima eqavile kwizingxenye eziningi zomgomo womphakathi. Ukungalingani kwamazinga okuphila okwanda kakhulu, ububha kanye nokusweleka kwemisebenzi okwalandelwa umbono owawuqhamuka kwiKnowledge Bank, njengomgomo wezomnotho wezwelonke iGEAR kanye nendlela yongxiwankulu yamanani amanzi ‘okwaba yindlela’’ eyaholela eokunqanyulelweni kwabantu abaningi abampofu amanzi futhi, okwajika, kwaholela kwisifo sohudo esasabalala kakhulu kwisifundazwe saKwaZulu-Natal . Kodwa uMongameli uNelson Mandela, ebhekene nengcindezi enkulu eyayivela kubahwebi abakhulu, wamukela izindlela eziningi ezazingenamphumela zeBhange.
Kunomthelela wezandla okubonakala endaweni lapho kwabhujiswa khona abantu eMarikana
Ngendlela eyodwa, esinye isenzo esingekudala-nje saleliBhange simbandakanya ukuxhasa kakhulu indlu yezokumbiwa phansi yaseLondon iLonmin okwenziwa eMarikana ngeplatinum, okumbandakanya obukushiwo njengokwakhiwa kwezindlu ezingu5000 zabasebenzi. Isekela likaMongameli waseNingizimu Afrika uCyril Ramaphosa, onamaphesenti angu9 ‘Wokuthuthukiswa KwaBamnyama Kwezomnotho’ owayengumnikazi weLonmin ngonyaka ka2012, waba nemihlangano futhi wathumela imiyalezo ephuthumayo kungqongqoshe wombutho wamaphoyisa efbuza mayelana ‘nokwenza okuqondile’ mayelana nokubhikilisha okwakungekho emthethweni. Ngosuku olulandelayo, abasebenzi abangu34 babulawa ngamaphoyisa. Emva kweminyaka emibili, uRamaphosa usevumile kwikhomishani kahulumeni eyenza uphenyo mayelana nesibhicongo sokubulawa kwabasebenzi eMarikana ukuthi wayengumqondisi waseLonmin owayebhekene mayelana nohlelo lwezindlu, nokuthi zintathu kuphela izindlu ezakhiwa.
Kodwa ‘kwincwajana yabo yokusimamisa ukutshala kwezimali nangokuziphatha kahle’, iBhange laqhosha nge ‘Rekopane Development Forum’ yaseLonmin ngaphandle kokubonakala ukuthi lokho kwakukokushayisana. “Imboni isiqale ngomzamo wokuhlanganyela ukusiza kube khona ukupthuthuka okunokusimama kwimiphakathi yasendaweni lapho inezindlu zokumbiwa phansi khona. Kanya kanye neLonmin, kunamanye amaqembu amathathu ahamba phambili okubambisenwe nawo – izikhulu zasemakhosini endawo, uhulumeni wasendaweni, kanye nezimboni zezindlu zokumbiwa phansi zasendaweni – ezinombono ofanayo wokuthuthukisa ngezomnotho kanye nezenhlalakahle.”
UThumeka Magwangqana ungumholi weqembu elihamba phambili labesifazane emijondolo yaseMarikana, iSikhala Sonka. Kulelisonto ungitshele ukuthi akakazwe ezwe ngezinhlelo zeBhange Lomhlaba ngeLonmin kanye nangeRekopane Development Form. Mayelana ‘nombono’ okubanjisenwe ngawo yiziphathimandla zaseLonmin zihlanganyele nobhululu balo, “Thina bantu besifazane beSikhala Sonke asikaze sithole lutho oluqhamuka kubona. Ngonyaka odlule, iLonmin yasitshela ukuthi izosinika isakhiwo senkulisa (yokunakekela abantwana) – kodwa ngeke isixhase ngezimali zokuthi sisebenze lapho. Namanje sisalindile.”
Ukuzithemba okunokuqhosha kweBhange mayelana neLonmin kuveze ukungazi ngokwenaba ngezimo ezivelele mayelana neprojekti yezenhlalakahle yaseMarikana. i Bench Marks Foundation ebunjwa imiphakathi yezenkolo ehambisana nokuthuthuka, lapho ngonyaka ka2007 yaqopha ukuba semuva okukhulu mayelana nezenhlalakahle kanye nezomnotho kumbiko wayo iPolicy Gap.
Njengoba sekuphele iminyaka emihlanu, emva kwesibhicongo sokubulawa kwabasebenzi ngo2012, Abaseshi Abanombono (iCAO) bangaphakathi kuleliBhange baqala ngokusesha okwakuchemile.
Ngokwamukela “iziphakamiso mayelana nokwenza okwakusezingeni mayelana nokutshalwa kwezimali’’ kanye futhi ‘’kwakungokwenzeka mayelana nezindaba ezibhekene neNdlela Yokusimamisa eyayenziwe ngayo,’’ iCAO yathola kungekho kuhlangana phakathi kweBhange eLonmin, kanye nabasebenzi ababedangele, imigomo yamiphakathi kanye neyezimvelo, kanye nesinqumo esiqinile – besizwa nguRamaphosa – ukumema amaphoyisa angababulali kubasebenzi ababebhikilisha. ‘’ICAO inqume ukuthi asikho isidingo sophenyo nokuthi lelicala livalwe.
Kodwa lokhu ngeke kuqede ubunxushunxushu. Emva kwesibhicongo sokubulawa kwabavukuzi, iCenter for International Environmental Law edolobheni laseWashington lafika nombono ukuthi iBhange libuyekeze ukusthalwa kwezimali kwimikhiqizo embiwa phansi uma kubhekenwe nalezizimo – kodwa lokho akusizanga. Emva kwamsonto amabili, umongameli weBhange waya eGoli kodwa akazange avakashele noma akhulume nhlobo ngeMarikana.
Imali yokubolekisa enkulukazi ekhishwe iBhange ukwakha isizinda esikhulukazi smandla kagesi aphehlwa ngamalahle
UKim, onejazi lobudokotela ngezimo abantu abaphila ngaphansi kwazo, wabumba nabanye iNGO eyyihamba phambili iPartners in Health futhi wabuye wengamela izinhlelo Zengculazi zeNhlangano iWorld Health Organisation. Njengesifundiswa saseHarvard, incwadi ayihlela nomunye uKim ngonyaka ka2000, iDying for Growth, yayilwa nemigomo yeBhange. Kodwa ngesokhathi sohambo lwakhe eNingizimu Afrika, uKim wancoma imali yesikweletu enkulukazi ekhishwe iBhnage - u$3.75 wezigidigidi ibolekwa uEskom ukwakha isikhungo samandla kagesi iMedupi –‘ njengamalahle ahlanzekile,’ konke okungubufakazi obuphikisayo. IMedupi izokhiphela emoyeni amathani asuka ku25 kuya kwangu35 esisisi esingcolisayo njalo ngonyaka, ngaphezulu kwokwenziwa ngamazwe angu115.
Ubano ozuzayo?Esikhundleni sokwenza kabusha Isivumelwano Esiphuthumayo Samanani semboni iBHP Billiton kanye noEskom, lapho eminyakeni engu22 edlule kade unikeza imboni enkulukazi emhlabeni wonke ngamaphesenti angu10 kagesi waseNingizimu Afrika ngenani elingu-US0.01/kWh (ingxenye encane kakhulu uma kubhekenwe nemali abampofu abayikhokhayo), indlela yokukhokhela lesisikweletu eyenziwe iBhange imbandakanya nokunyuka kwamnanai okungaphezulu kwamaphesenti ayikhulu kubasebenzisi bakagesi basemakhaya, nomangabe lesisikweletu kwakusolwa ukuthi sasisiza ekulweni nobubha mayelana namandla kagesi. Ucwaningo olungekudala-nje lukahulumeni lamandla kagesi luqagela ukuthi ukunyuka kwamanani kaEskom kamandla kagesi kuzophoqa amaphesenti angu37 abantu abahola kancane ukuthi babuyele emuva kumandla okubasa njengezinkuni, amalahle kanye noparaffin.
Lokukuhluleka kokuletha amandla ngamalahle kuwuphawu lokuchema kweBhange ngamaprojekti amakhulu. NgoFebruwari ka2010, inhlangano iSouth Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) yamemezela umkhankaso womhlaba wonke ukumisa ukuxhaswa ngeziali yiBhange kweMedupi, ngenxa yokucekeleka phansi kwesimo sezulu, nobubha obuholela enkohlakalweni. Umdidiyeli weSDCEA uDesmond D’Sa,owazuza umklomelo i2014 Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa, udlale indima yokuhola abantu abangu400 000 kwimashi yePeople’s Climate March edolobheni laseNew York ngenyanga edlule. Ubuza ukuthi, ‘’Ngabe kufanele futhi sethule okunye Ukubhikilishela Amabhondo eBhange Lomhlaba, ukuze abatshali bezimali kube yibo abagijimela kuleliBhange?”
Ebhala kwiphephandaba iGuardian, Umbhishobhi Omkhulu uDesmond Tutu ngenyanga edlule ubuye waphinda wamemezela ukuthi isimo sezulu isona okufanele kube isizathu sokuthi zangabe zisatshalwa izimali. Umqondo ophusile ukuthi kubhekwane ngqo neBhange Lomhlaba, ngoba lilokhu liqhubeka nokutshala izimali kwezokubasa zemvelo (ikakhulukazi manje njengoba sebebheke kwifracking), ukuhweba ngesisisi esingcolisa umoya kanye nezinye ‘izixazululo ezingamanga’ kwinkinga yesimo sezulu – inkinga engeke likwazi ukumelana nayo njengombolekisi omkhulu wezimali ngokomlando mayelana nemikhiqizo yokubasa yezemvelo.
Isikhathi sogcina lapho iBhange labhekana kanye nokudelelwa kanje ingesikhathi lapho izishoshovu ezilwela ubulungiswa emhlabeni wonke zazihlangene emhlanganweni owawungoApril 2000 eWashington. Ngalesosikhathi, ikhansele elizimele lasedolobheni laseGoli uTrevor Ngwane – owagcina ebumbe kanye nabanye iSoweto Electricity Crisis Committee – wafundisa izishoshovu ‘ukugxoba itoyi-toyi’ ngesikhathi kubhikilishwa. Ngaphakathi, ongusihlalo webhodi laseBhange uManuel wazama ukufihla (hayi ukulungisa) amaphutha, njengoba kwakuvelile kumbiko oqoshiwe kuhlelo lweSABC iSpecial Assignment olalubizwa ngokuthi oTrevor Ababili Baya eWashington ( Two Trevors go to Washington).
Manje-ke, kufanele kwenziwenjani ngalesisikhungo, ikakhulukazi uma kubhekwanwa nokuxhumana kwaso okunoxakile neNingizimu Afrika? IBhange selenze umhlaba waba yindawo embi kakhulu: ngezenhlalakahle, ngezombusazwe, ngezomnotho kanye nezemvelo. Njengoba ababusi bengazi ukuthi bazolishintsha kanjani iBhange, sekuyisikhathi futhi lapho imiphakathi kufanele izbe nezinkulumo zezindlela zokukhetha bese futhi kuphindelwa emgaqweni. EWashington kanye namanye amadolobha ngoLwesihlanu, abantu bazokwazi kabanzi, futhi abaningi bazozimbandakanya noMhlaba Omelene NeBhange.
(UPatrick Bond ungumqondisi waseUKZN Centre for Civil Society,enye yezindawo lapho kuzobekufundiswa khona emiphakathini yakuleli.)
Bank needed ‘squeaky clean’ corruption buster – but instead, got South African charlatan
Leonard McCarthy and then Bank president Robert Zoellick
The ‘Spy Tapes’ associated with the bungled 2008-09 prosecution of Jacob Zuma reveal the tortured logic in Leonard McCarthy’s departure from the key position fighting Zuma, to World Bank Vice President for Integrity.
According to CityPress editor Ferial Haffajee, “McCarthy was impaled by the seductions of power. He ruined our criminal justice system. I find it breathtaking that he is vice president of integrity at the World Bank.”
How was Bank President Robert Zoellick bamboozled, hiring McCarthy to oversee the fight against prolific corruption on World Bank projects as its Vice President: Integrity (“INT”)? Did the Bank’s favoured South African politician, Trevor Manuel, fib in the job reference he gave Zoellick on behalf of the Scorpions chief, at a time he knew McCarthy was embroiled in what was later declared to be an illegal conspiracy against Zuma?
In 2007-08, McCarthy was engaged in Machiavellian manoeuvres to charge Zuma with 283 counts of corruption. But the charges (potentially still valid) were dropped just before the 2009 election, won by Zuma, because of the earliest Spy Tapes revelations.
Zuma was elected African National Congress president in a major showdown with the country’s then president, Thabo Mbeki, on December 18, 2007. This was a surprise to Mbeki’s camp, including McCarthy, for whom Mbeki ‘will always be my president’. Suddenly the balance of forces within the ruling party shifted dramatically.
The next day, the National Director of Public Prosecution, Bulelani Ngcuka (whose wife had replaced Zuma as the country’s Deputy President in 2005) and McCarthy had a frank talk. According to Spy Tapes transcripts, it began with an SMS from Ngcuka:
BN: What I meant about my message: it is important that you sort out where you are going, immediately. And I think that the sooner you get out of that place, the better. Let them [presumably Mbeki and his allies] sort out their mess, this is not your responsibility, they want to sort out the mess, let them sort it out themselves. There will be nobody covering your back, you are exposed completely, and I don't think you deserve that.
McCarthy then talked to President Thabo Mbeki. Although he had court papers with which to charge Zuma ready that day, he waited until the 28th of December because it would look too suspicious to file them in the immediate wake of Mbeki’s defeat.
LM: No alright, let me not keep you. I just want to run something by you very quickly. Um, and I actually don't care these days who is listening to the phone as well. I was approached by the World Bank, for this position.
LM: Yes, because I have given you as a reference. But I said I have not primed the references, until obviously you wait until you hear what they say. So, they want to talk to you and Trevor [Manuel]. But I don't need is for people to talk shit about me. I am worried that all these things that are going on around now might hurt my international chances. Because they are looking for a guy who is squeaky clean.