The state capture commission, chaired by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, has said the break-in at its offices will not affect hearings set to take place this week.
Spokesperson for the commission Mbuyiselo Stemela said on Sunday that a computer and a monitor had been stolen.
The break-in on Saturday night comes four years after a burglary at the office of the chief justice in Midrand, during which 15 computers containing sensitive information on Constitutional Court judges and officials were stolen.
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said the break-in at the state capture commission’s office was worrying and bordered on treason. “Was it a political decision not to provide security? It could be that the aim of the burglary is to frustrate the work of the commission,” he said. “And for that reason, no stone should be left unturned. This is no ordinary case; this is treasonous in my view.”
The state capture commission, which started its work in August 2018, relocated from the Hill on Empire offices in Parktown, which houses Business Day, to the old Johannesburg municipal council chambers in March 2020 to reduce costs.
The commission was established by former president Jacob Zuma to investigate allegations of state capture and corruption in the public sector, including the role of the Gupta family.
Zuma, who has been implicated by more than 30 witnesses as having played a central role in state capture, which cost SA an estimated R500bn, has defied a Constitutional Court order to appear before Zondo and answer questions. Chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng recently directed Zuma to file papers on what his sentence should be if he is found guilty of being in contempt of the highest court.
Zuma missed the deadline last week and launched a scathing attack on the judiciary, arguing that the bench is playing politics. He stated in a hard-hitting letter to Mogoeng that he was ready to become a “prisoner of the Constitutional Court”.
The state capture commission in February asked the top court to give Zuma a two-year prison sentence for being in contempt of its processes.
In 2019, transport minister Fikile Mbalula told the Zondo commission that he received a call from Ajay Gupta telling him he would be appointed the minister of sport & recreation before the appointment was made official by Zuma. Old Mutual chair Trevor Manuel, the country’s longest-serving finance minister, told the commission that Mbalula’s admission was the first real evidence that Zuma had abdicated his powers. He said up to that point the influence of the Gupta family, who are friends of Zuma and business associates of the former president’s son Duduzane, had been a subject of speculation and even “banter”.
Since the commission started its work, there have been significant developments, with some private sector companies, such as global consultancy firms McKinsey and Bain & Co and auditing firm KPMG, fingered for their part in state capture and subsequently paying back money from contracts. Law enforcement agencies are acting on some of the matters raised at the commission.
On Monday, the commission, which has until the end of June to complete its work, will hear evidence from National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise, National Council of Provinces chair Amos Masondo and ANC chair Gwede Mantashe.
Update: April 18 2021
This story has been updated throughout.
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