The judicial inquiry into state capture cannot start work because the regulations governing it have yet to be signed off by President Jacob Zuma, even though the terms of reference were gazetted on Thursday.
However, the parliamentary inquiry into Eskom is set to heat up in March when the Gupta family and Zuma’s son, Duduzane, will be in the hot seat, the chairwoman of the portfolio committee on public enterprises, Zukiswa Rantho, confirmed to Business Day on Sunday.
Rantho said the Guptas and "associates", which she said included Duduzane, were scheduled to appear before the committee in March. The coming week is set to include testimony from former Passenger Rail Agency of SA CE Lucky Montana as well as former energy minister and current Deputy Public Enterprises Minister Ben Martins.
Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who will head the commission of inquiry into state capture, said last week that he needed the terms of reference and the regulations to guide the commission before it could start its work.
Although Zondo has received draft regulations, Zuma, who has been attending the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, has not yet signed these.
The regulations are required to allow Zondo to appoint staff, acquire premises for the inquiry and give him powers to subpoena witnesses and gather evidence through search and seizure processes.
The Hawks are set to make arrests in the coming week, in particular in connection with the Vrede dairy farm in which Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane and Free State premier Ace Magashule are implicated.
Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi, however, played down speculation over imminent arrests of key officials implicated in the Gupta-linked project. He told Business Day it was not "fake news" but that the Hawks could not be "derailed by irresponsible reporting".
He pleaded with the public for the Hawks to be given the "space to do their work".
"You need to understand that there is an investigation going on … we don’t know where reports of an ‘imminent arrest’ are coming from," he said on Sunday.
Constitutional Court spokesman Nathi Ncube said Zondo would be making an announcement on the state capture inquiry soon. Once the regulations were published, key appointments could be made — including for evidence leaders and senior counsel — and the inquiry could begin its work.
There remained questions about the scope of the work outlined in the terms of reference but the ball was now in Zondo’s court over whether he would acquiesce to them or refer them back to the Presidency.
Ncube said Zondo would communicate with the public soon on the way forward for the commission, which was established by Zuma more than two weeks ago after pressure from the newly elected leadership of the ANC, under party president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Zuma has not yet indicated whether he is appealing against a high court judgment compelling him to establish the commission of inquiry. He did indicate in his announcement on the establishment of the commission that he was seeking legal advice.
Weekend newspapers were packed with reports on investigations into state capture and the Gupta family.
The probes have intensified after the election of the new ANC leadership. However, insiders also indicated that probes into the family by foreign countries had increased pressure on local law enforcement authorities to take action.
According to the Financial Times, the US Federal Bureau of Investigations indicated in October 2017 it was investigating individuals, bank accounts and companies in the US for links to alleged corruption involving Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta.
The newspaper also reported at the time that the UK government had asked financial enforcement agencies to investigate possible ties between HSBC and Standard Chartered and the Guptas over concerns about their exposure to potentially illicit funds.
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