by LUKE ZUNGA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THIS week’s revelation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) that Tembisa Hospital was fleeced of R2 billion by officials working in collusion with businessmen underscores a troubling truth: the most educated citizens are often at the top of the corruption ladder.
The stagnation of Africa and the wider Global South is not caused primarily by politicians or ordinary citizens, but by the so-called “cream” of society — the economists, accountants, administrators, and Ivy League graduates who present themselves as technocrats.
These technocrats cling to the belief that salvation lies in foreign investors from Europe or America, while rejecting the notion that countries can mobilize their own resources and capital.
They appear polished in suits, driving luxury cars and living in gated estates, but behind this façade they preside over collapsing hospitals, broken roads, failing schools, unreliable electricity, and deteriorating water systems.
Many hold advanced degrees such as Master of Business Administration (MBAs), designed to teach problem-solving, yet they do not apply these skills for the public good.
Instead, they wait for opportunities to siphon funds and sign corrupt deals.
Take, for instance, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC). Its incentive schemes ostensibly reward private investment, yet insiders have long abused these programs.
Runners would cobble together flimsy “business ideas” just to qualify for payouts.
Billions were allocated each year, but much of it circled back to officials through kickbacks. Similar failures dogged the Jobs Fund and EU-backed job creation programs.
Unlike bankers, who follow strict regulatory frameworks under central banks and the Basel Committee, technocrats in government often act unchecked.
Changing presidents or parliamentarians does not fix this rot. Look at Malawi: replacing Lazarus Chakwera with Peter Mutharika will not transform the economy. The real players — technocrats embedded in government offices — remain in place, continuing to siphon funds and facilitate illicit transfers.
Politicians may join in the looting, but they cannot act without technocrats, who hold the real administrative power.
Ministers make policy, but director-generals and senior officials decide the “how.”
During the Madlanga Commission, it was made clear that a minister cannot dictate operational matters to a department.
At DTIC, for example, the director-general once overruled five separate recommendations from stakeholders, including those of the Presidential Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Advisory Council chaired by the president himself.
This illustrates a hard truth: elections change faces in parliament, but not the entrenched bureaucracy running the economy.
Politicians allocate budgets but cannot dictate how money is actually spent.
In 2012, DTIC reported spending R3.5 billion under its incentive schemes, most of which went to established companies, leaving black startups with nothing — and yet politicians simply nodded along.
So what is the purpose of democracy if those in power have little control over economic direction?
The Global South is trapped because unelected technocrats, accountable to no voters, dictate economic realities.
They have become the new oppressors, serving foreign and private interests while citizens remain suppressed.
– CAJ News