By Hajira Khota

Business South Africa (BUSA) held a special meeting to discuss BUSA’s response to Part 1 of the Zondo Commission Report. The BUSA Board stated that it intends to communicate with BUSA members as soon as possible to ensure that it has a thorough response and stance on the Report.

The Board was adamant that businesses should use the Report to conduct genuine reflection and formulate a position that shows serious evaluation of firms’ involvement in the state capture crisis.

Business Unity SA CEO Cas Coovadia, spoke to Radio Islam International; he says that Part 1 of the Report represents a watershed moment in the ongoing struggle against systemic corruption, wrongdoing, and state capture, which has cost the country billions of Rands, human lives, and eroded public trust, as well as wreaked havoc to the economy.

“This is a huge setback for our attempts to improve people’s lives through attracting investment, establishing an inclusive economy, and creating jobs”.

Coovadia says that, “the need to act quickly on the recommendations made in Part 1 of the Report, because we can only address the scourge of corruption and state capture as a country, including dealing with it systemically and breaking the solid structures aiding and abetting it, if we act quickly on the recommendations and take swift legal action against identified perpetrators”.

“This holds true in all aspects of society, including government, business, labour, and other aspects of civil society. The effectiveness of the Commission’s work will be determined by our ability to take action to re-establish our society’s moral compass”, says Coovadia.

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