The captured state: What Zondo has found and what comes next.
JOHANNESBURG – After four years, 400 days of testimony, and over 300 witnesses, the State Capture Inquiry found that the South African state was captured.
The inquiry, officially known as the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, is headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. Zondo handed the first of three parts of its report to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday.
The first volume covers SAA, SARS, government communications and public procurement in general, and in it the commission makes wide-ranging findings.
The inquiry made recommendations that criminal charges be instituted against key role players in state capture, including former SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni, former Transnet CEO Brian Molefe, former Eskom CEO Collin Matjila and the Guptas, among others.
Former President Jacob Zuma was also slammed by the commission, which said he had advanced the interests of the Guptas at the expense of the South African people.
Meanwhile, the ANC says it will put mechanisms in place to process any parts of the State Capture Inquiry’s report that pertain to the party, its deployees or members.
The first part of the report, which was released on Tuesday, implicated ANC “deployees”, President Zuma and the party.
In a statement, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said the ANC welcomed the handover of the first part of the report.
“The ANC has consistently expressed its support for the objectives and the work of the commission, including at its 54th national conference in December 2017, where delegates resolved to support the expeditious establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry.
As ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said during his appearance at the commission, the ANC called for the establishment of the commission knowing that the organisation would itself be placed under great scrutiny.”
Duarte said the ANC maintained that the commission was a necessary part of a broader effort to end state capture and corruption.
According to her, the party is hopeful that the report will detail the nature and extent of state capture and corruption, and present recommendations that assist in taking the country forward.
“As an organisation, the ANC will engage with the findings and recommendations of the commission as the parts of the report become available, and consider how these can help to enhance the process of fundamental renewal and rebuilding within our movement,” Duarte said.
“The ANC national executive committee will put in place mechanisms to process any parts of the commission report that pertain to the organisation, its deployees or members.
“The ANC will support government as it considers the report’s findings and recommendations and undertakes the work necessary to restore good governance and decisively tackle all forms of corruption within the state and across society,” she added.
“The ANC further calls on all South Africans to engage with the commission’s report and to be part of the national effort to put state capture behind us and build an ethical, capable developmental state and a society governed by the values of our democratic Constitution and the rule of law.”
Meanwhile, the EFF said the report confirmed what the party had already “warned” the people of South Africa about – that SAA had been “abused” by former President Zuma, Dudu Myeni and the Guptas for personal enrichment.
“Two, that the Gupta-owned New Age (TNA) newspaper was in fraudulent contracts with SOEs like SAA, Transnet, Eskom and the SABC. Thirdly that Zuma, (former SARS commissioner Tom) Moyane and Bain Consulting conspired to capture SARS.”
The EFF said when it took a decision to boycott and ban the now-defunct Gupta-owned New Age newspaper and ANN7 from its activities, “Sanef (South African National Editors’ Forum) condemned us as enemies of ‘media freedom'”.
The party said the commission’s report had now “absolved” it.
“We therefore welcome the recommendations that criminal prosecutions must immediately follow,” the EFF said.
The party said it was, however, disappointed at the commission’s chapter on SARS, saying that Zondo sought to portray Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan as an “anti-corruption hero.”
“Zondo’s dishonesty and bias on Gordhan also exposes him as incapable of the objectivity required for a Constitutional Court justice,” read the EFF statement.
It also stated that for a commission which had spent a billion rand of taxpayers’ money, it was “deeply regrettable that its recommendations are all underscored by ‘further investigation’ and ‘prosecute if warranted.’.
“The EFF is looking forward to the last two parts of the report and will make further observations at that stage.
“We are most concerned about what the report will say on Ramaphosa. This is key because we believe that Zondo is in a desperate campaign to become Chief Justice,” said the party. – NEWS24.
The captured state: What Zondo has found and what comes next.
