Cast your mind back to 2016, the country was at the zenith of our State Capture debacle and then president Jacob Zuma was embroiled in a court battle against the ‘State of Capture’ report, which was the final report to be released from the public protector’s office headed by Thuli Madonsela.
The report concluded that an independent inquiry into State Capture should be constituted and headed by a judge to complete the incomplete work of the State of Capture report. Zuma called Madonsela’s report “political propaganda” and challenged it in the court but in December 2017 the case was thrown out and Zuma was forced to ask the chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng to appoint a judge to head the State Capture Inquiry.
Fast forward to 2020 and on the back of the release of the first part of a three-part State Capture report compiled through evidence given at the Zondo Commission of inquiry headed by acting chief justice Raymond Zondo, did the first volume meet Thuli Madonsela’s expectations?
The former public protector says the report brought back memories of her own investigation and the harassment she faced from Black First Land First (BFLF), supporters of the former president and large swathes of society.
Madonsela says she recollects the disingenuous “white monopoly capital” public relations campaign that was also leveraged by the likes of BFLF and the radical economic transformation wing of the ANC, and coordinated and produced by British firm Bell Pottinger, to try to derail her investigation.
But as for the release of the first volume of findings into State Capture, Madonsela says she had hoped the report would connect the dots that she had first begun to probe in 2016 with her State of Capture report.
What she can take away from the first volume is that State Capture did, indeed, happen.
And if it did, indeed, happen then there will be an avalanche of cases heading the way of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), who will have to prioritise and deliver on its mandate to hold those implicated to account.
So far, despite a mountain of evidence, the NPA has not delivered on any high-profile prosecutions and have scheduled just two corruption cases for prosecution in January – one against former Crime Intelligence head Richard Mdluli and the other involving ex-MP Vincent Smith in the Bosasa case.
Of course, as Mandy Weiner points out, the pressure will be on NPA director Shamila Batohi to deliver convictions (for subscribers) but the NPA itself is at the root of State Capture with the institution hollowed out and systematically weakened during the Zuma presidency.
Naturally, it will take time for any organisation to recover from the rot of State Capture but after three years in the job, Weiner writes that the pressure is on Batohi to start delivering despite the lack of prosecutorial resources.
We’ve been patient but State Capture cannot be allowed to dominate the headlines much longer without some sort of punishment against those who inflicted so much damage to South Africa.
Certainly, not while the evidence is out there in the public domain for the average person on the street to access and read. We all know who committed these offences now we want to see consequences for their actions.
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
Ramaphosa must implement Zondo’s recommendations to save the ANC – The Citizen (for subscribers)
The Italian Rapscallion: Former Bain boss Vittorio Massone, who helped capture SA Revenue Service, lands plum job in Milan – Daily Maverick
ATHOL WILLIAMS | Want to know why corruption is our Bain? Look to BLSA – Sunday Times Daily (for subscribers)
TOM EATON: Same old clowns squirting water from plastic flowers on their lapels – Business Day (for subscribers)
Ralph Mathekga | Populist and impractical: Govt scrapped special permits for Zimbabweans too hastily – News24 (for subscribers)
South Africa has changed tack on tackling COVID: why it makes sense – The Conversation
Image: Thuli Madonsela. Source: GCIS
