President Ramaphosa promised to make recommendations in June on how to proceed from here. He called the handover of the first ZK Report a defining moment to end the era of “State Capture” and re-establish the credibility and competence of the State. This report dealt with the South African Airline (SAA), South African Revenue Service (SARS), government communication and public procurements. Ex-President Jacob Zuma is denounced for advancing the Guptas at South Africans’ expense.
The Journalist Ferial Haffajee explained in the “Daily Maverick DM” that the first report dealt with the New Age newspaper of the Gupta Family, the destruction of the South African Airline (SAA) by President Jacob Zuma’s consigliere Dudu Myeni, the capture of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the corruption of the States’ procurement system through tenders.
Ms Haffajee believes the section concerning the Guptas as owners of “New Age” will be most widely read. She refers to the newspaper as the battering ram which was used to obtain advertising and patronage from state structures. Certain information was supplied by a brave whistle-blower.
Another equally admirable whistle-blower delivered information concerning the huge fees paid to a US consultancy. This section presents various cases of state capture and offers concrete recommendations.
The DM wrote on the 5th of January that Jacob Zuma and Tom Moyane, the former Commissioner of SARS, who was fired in 2018 and has since fled the country, played critical roles in “capturing and dismantling this internationally regarded institution.”
The details emerging are already mind-boggling. It will take a long time before the last words on South Africa’s State Capture will be said or written. Nonetheless, the events that had occurred will shortly be revealed. Whether all those responsible will be apprehended and punished for their crimes, only time can tell.