A former Irish Justice minister, Ray Burke, was jailed on Monday for six months for tax evasion, thus becoming the latest casualty of an official crackdown on political and financial corruption in Ireland. It had been generally believed that for years he was the recipient of substantial bribes and had consequently amassed a considerable personal fortune.

Forty South African members of Parliament, past and present, were charged with fraud on Monday in the biggest corruption scandal in the country?s post apartheid history. They were charged with misusing at least £ 1.5 million of public money to pay for lavish trips for themselves and their relatives; they inflated bills from their legitimate parliamentary travel allowances, pocketted the surplus and gave free air tickets to relatives at taxpayers? expense. South Africa?s National Prosecuting Authority(NPA)questioned 135 MP from all parties and enlisted the help of PriceWaterhouseCoopers to help the complex investigations. The African National Congress government points to the aggressive investigation of MP and the subsequent charges as proof of President Thabo Mbeki absolute determination to fight corruption.

What links these two cases? They both stemmed from investigative journalism of the highest standard. The South African corruption scandal, dubbed ?Travelgate?, was first exposed by the Sunday Times in July 2004 and led to the investigation of the politicians by the NPA which unleashed its investigative unit known as the scorpions with powers similar to our Icac. The whole saga took barely five months from the original article in the Sunday Times to conclude with charges against the suspects on monday. But none of it would have been possible without the clear commitment and willpower of the government to combat corruption. An undeniable aspect of this commitment is the fact that the Scorpions can boast an impressive 93 % conviction rate in corruption cases.

Why the silence over Appasamy?

I will use just one example to compare our so-called fight against corruption with the two successes mentioned above: the MCB scandal. It is nearly two years since the details were made public and the trials, if they do take place, will take just as long to reach a conclusion. In the meantime, Mr Appasamy brazenly continues to enjoy his freedom and wealth in England, armed with the knowledge that no one seems to care about the perpetrators of the biggest financial scam in Mauritian history.

Neither the Government nor the Opposition find anything strange in the fact that the attorney general, the DPP, or Icac have not even started extradition proceedings; so how on earth can a trial take place in the absence of the main suspect? Or, as is usually the case in these matters, will Mr Appasamy?s arrest put the spotlight on as yet unnamed individuals from all sides of the political spectrum? Come on, Messrs Bérenger, Ramgoolam, Jugnauth and all those who will promise us the truth during the next election campaign: Why the silence over Appasamy? Why is he not in Mauritius to face these grave allegations? Crucially, why does it take so long for any corruption case to reach any conclusion whatsoever?

South Africa became a full democracy only ten years ago and their fight against corruption is much more productive and faster than ours. Look at the ex-Health minister and the Rs10 per blanket case: how much longer is this going to drag on for? Perhaps ICAC would like to reply instead. No, I am just being silly and unrealistic. Have you seen its succesful conviction rate? It is zero per cent so far and hopefully rising! But Mr Beekarry does look good on TV and we must not begrudge him his lamentable performance, despite his salary being at least three times that of the prime minister!

R.A.J.