Zondo: The unravelling
In June 2022, the four-and-a-half-year State Capture Inquiry finally came to an end following the release of chairperson Raymond Zondo’s final report.
In a Friday Briefing editorial last year following the release of the last part of the report, News24 assistant editor Pieter du Toit wrote: “South Africans stood up against capture, it exposed skulduggery and criminality and demanded accountability. We should not stop now. We must ensure the viability of this country for ourselves and our children and keep the pressure on authorities to prosecute and jail Zuma, his comrades and the Guptas.”
Despite the six-part report constructing an overwhelming case against the ANC, and particularly its former leader, Jacob Zuma, as being active participants in the expansive state capture project executed by the Gupta family, little appears to have been done with the final report.
In an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa this week, Mamphela Rampele wrote: “You publicly insisted that the chief justice should watch how you would respond to his recommendations once you received the report. We are still waiting and watching you.”
It is little wonder Zondo decided to speak out, saying: “If another group of people were to do exactly what the Guptas did to pursue state capture, Parliament would still not be able to stop it. That is simply because I have seen nothing that has changed. If Parliament won’t be able to protect the people’s interests, who will protect the people?”
Parliament took offence, accusing Zondo of undermining the separation of powers between the legislature and judiciary. It then outlined some cosmetic reforms it has implemented.
In this week’s Friday Briefing, we ask whether Zondo did in fact overstep the mark, or should Parliament be more accountable and allay fears state capture won’t happen again.
We have contributions from News24’s parliamentary reporter, Jan Gerber, analyst and News24 columnist Mpumelelo Mkhabela, Corruption Watch’s Karam Singh and finally an excerpt from author Paul Holden’s book Zondo at your fingertips.
Enjoy the read.
Best,
Vanessa Banton
Opinions editor.
Parliament Speaker playing the ‘majority card’ shows Zondo was right
In addressing concerns about Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s remark that Parliament would fail to prevent state capture if it were to reoccur, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, in playing the “majority card”, illustrated why Zondo was correct, writes parliamentary reporter Jan Gerber.
Over 400 days of hearings in the Zondo state capture inquiry, over 300 witnesses were called. Thousands of documents and pieces of evidence were processed as the commission sat for months and months trying to unpick state capture. In the end 19 Volumes of findings totalling 4,750 pages were handed over. Author Paul Holden who spent the last fifteen years exposing grand corruption, beginning with the Arms Deal, and has written several books on local and global politics and corruption. In this excerpt from his latest book, ‘Zondo at your fingertips’, Holden sets out his response to the commission’s work, identifying its achievements and highlighting its shortcomings.
