The state capture inquiry — the culmination of years of investigation, in part by the media, and public hearings by chief justice Raymond Zondo into how the state was plundered under former president Jacob Zuma — will dominate this week.
The submission of the final instalment of the report to President Cyril Ramaphosa will bring to a close Zondo’s tenure as chair of the commission probing the state capture.
Two months ago, while asking for yet more time to submit the final instalment, Zondo told the high court it comprises six parts: the Estina dairy scam, the SABC, the State Security Agency (SSA), the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), the 2013 landing of the Guptas’ private jet at Waterkloof air force base, and the machinery behind state capture.
Business Day has confirmed with two sources who have knowledge of the commission’s ongoing work what these six volumes will feature. One said the largest volumes cover Prasa and the SSA. Both sources said Zondo was adamant the report be sent to the president on time. They expect it to be sent electronically on Sunday evening.
Within several hours of the submission of the last four reports, the Office of the Presidency uploaded digital versions of the volumes onto its website for public dissemination.
Ramaphosa has publicly committed to presenting an action plan for the implementation of the recommendations of the state capture report to parliament within four months of the final report being submitted to him.
Ramaphosa, still recovering from the political and legal repercussions from the 2020 robbery at his Limpopo farm, Phala Phala, is likely to remain in the news this week.
Ramaphosa is also yet to give the ANC’s integrity committee (IC) a date for his sitting with them to explain the issue.
“The president has contacted the integrity commission indicating that he would like to appear before it in connection with the developments at his farm. He said that he will write to the IC to indicate the exact date on which he would appear before it,” committee head George Mashamba said.
The president, who sought office on an anti-corruption ticket, faced pressure from the ANC and opposition parties to make full disclosure after allegations that he was involved in a cover-up of a robbery of US dollars that were hidden in furniture.
Former SSA boss Arthur Fraser laid a criminal complaint against Ramaphosa last week, implying the president concealed the crime from authorities. Ramaphosa has denied involvement in criminal activity.
Meanwhile, the ANC in North West, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are finalising plans for provincial elective conferences, the outcome of which will determine just how safe Ramaphosa’s ambitions are for a second term as ANC president at the party’s national elective conference in December.
On the labour front, wage negotiations at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council are expected to continue after the state effectively rejected all demands for a 10% pay hike across the board, tabled at the bargaining council on May 4. The state proposed the extension of the R1,000 after-tax cash gratuity to the more than 1.3-million employees and a 1.5% pay progression hike linked to years of service.
In parliament, the National Assembly will go on a constituency period from June 20, while the National Council of Provinces constituency period starts on June 27.
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