This article needs to be updated.(June 2024) |
Date | 21 August 2018 – 15 June 2022 |
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Location | Johannesburg, South Africa |
Also known as | Zondo Commission |
Budget | R 1 billion [1] (equivalent to ~US$66 million) |
Participants |
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Website | www |
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, was a public inquiry established in January 2018 by former President Jacob Zuma to investigate allegations of state capture, corruption, and fraud in the public sector in South Africa. [2] [3]
By December 2020, the commission had interviewed 278 witnesses and collected 159,109 pages and one exabyte of data as evidence. [4] It received eight extensions to finish its report, with 15 June 2022 being the end of its mandate. [5] The first part of the report was published on 4 January 2022. [6] [7] The fifth and final part was published on 22 June 2022. [8] It cost the state close to R1 billion (US$ 66 million), far more than any prior South African judicial inquiry. [9]
The reports provide strong evidence of state capture and detailed insight into how state capture was organised and facilitated by some leaders in both the public and private sectors. [10]
In 2016, the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, launched an investigation into state capture after receiving formal complaints from Stanislaus Muyebe of the Dominican Order of Southern Africa, [11] another member of the public, and leader of the opposition Mmusi Maimane. [12] In November 2016, the publication of the report of her investigation, titled State of Capture, caused a major scandal. The report implicated Zuma and other state officials in improper relationships with the Gupta family, among other improprieties, and recommended that Zuma should appoint a commission of inquiry into state capture. [13] [12] Zuma sought to have Madonsela's findings overturned in the High Court, but the court dismissed his application, finding that the Public Protector's recommendation was binding and that Zuma had to appoint a commission of inquiry within 30 days. At the instruction of the court, it was Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng who selected the chairperson of the inquiry, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. [3] Zondo is assisted by several other full-time officials, including former Auditor-General Terence Nombembe at the head of the investigations team, [14] and Frank Dutton, who served as lead investigator until his death in January 2022. [15]
The commission was established in January 2018 but did not hold its first hearing until August 2018, by which time Zuma had resigned and been replaced by President Cyril Ramaphosa. [13] Following a series of extensions, it concluded its hearings in August 2021 with testimony from Ramaphosa. However, on 29 September, the Pretoria High Court granted the commission another three-month extension, which expired at the end of December 2021. [9] Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola – whose portfolio is responsible for financing the commission – lodged, and then withdrew, a legal challenge to the application for an extension. [9] Another extension was granted to the commission on 28 December, giving it until 28 February 2022 to hand over the report to Ramaphosa. [16]
The first part of the report was handed over to Ramaphosa on 4 January 2022. [17] The second part was handed over on 1 February. [18] On 23 February, the Pretoria High Court extended the deadline to 30 April. [19] The commission delivered the third part of its findings on 1 March. [20] An eighth extension was granted by the court on 28 April, extending the deadline to 15 June. [5] The fourth tranche was handed over on 29 April. [21] The commission however failed to meet the deadline for handing over the final part of the report. [22] The fifth and final tranche was handed over on 22 June. [8]
The commission was appointed under terms of reference which were flexible but which singled out for investigation several issues, primarily arising from the State of Capture report and of varying degrees of specificity. Thus the commission was to investigate whether: [23]
If irregularities were found, the Commission was also to investigate the extent to which the national executive – including Zuma and the deputy ministers – had been responsible for them. [23]
Most testimony given to the inquiry focused on corruption and maladministration at state institutions during Zuma's administration (2009–2018). Over 300 witnesses [9] testified, with revelations including allegations about:
During hearings on these sagas, the commission has heard extensive testimony about maladministration and/or corruption at state-owned enterprises and state institutions including:
Several witnesses – according to the commission, more than 40 by February 2021 [47] – personally implicated Zuma in misconduct. For example:
Many individuals have been summoned to testify before the Commission, [51] including former president Jacob Zuma and other current and former government ministers and officials, as well as various business executives. Those required to testify include Ben Ngubane, Mosebenzi Zwane, Barbara Hogan, Mcebisi Jonas, Des van Rooyen, Nomvula Mokonyane, Vytjie Mentor, Pravin Gordhan, Sibongile Sambo, Job Mokgoro and Angelo Agrizzi, among many others.
Testimony given by multiple members of the South African State Security Agency (SSA) made national headlines for the amount of state funds used irregularly, breadth of controversial clandestine activities, and overt support the agency gave to president Zuma during his presidency. The acting director-general of the SSA, Loyiso Jafta, testified that it was highly a politicised agency following its formation in 2009 and that was used to improperly fund and support a number of African National Congress (ANC) political activities. [46] This confirmed previous testimony given by the Former Chairperson of the High-Level Panel of Review into the SSA, Sydney Mufamadi. [52] Jafta stated that at least R9 billion (roughly equivalent to US$758.7 million) of the SAA's fixed assets were "not to be found and that R125-million could not be accounted for in the 2017/18 financial year." [53] Prior to Jafta's testimony the Minister of State Security Ayanda Dlodlo sought to muzzle Jafta arguing that it would endanger state security. [52]
Testimony given to the commission regarding the improper activities of the SSA state that:
Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi made national headlines when he testified to the commission that the company systematically gave substantial bribes to South African government officials to ensure that the company received government contracts and was not investigated. [61] [62] [63] [64] Agrizzi's testimony implicated then President Zuma, [65] notable government minister Nomvula Mokonyane, [66] chairperson of South African Airways Dudu Myeni, [67] and ANC politician Gwede Mantashe. [68]
Former minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane, was implicated in a number of allegations of corruption during the commission. [34] [69] This included testimony by Agrizzi that Mokonyane was paid R50,000 (around US$3,500) a month for years to protect Bosasa from law enforcement agencies [69] and that she received numerous 'gifts' from Bosasa such as expensive vehicles. [34] Mokonyane's testimony before the commission was notable for its contradictory statements, the serious nature of the allegations made against her, and the high profile it received in the media. [34]
Dudu Myeni, a close associate of president Zuma, was implicated in illegal activities when she was chairperson of South African Airways. [41] When Myeni appeared before the commission on 5 November 2020 she repeatedly revealed the identity of a secret state witness, in violation of the terms set by the Commission. [70] The witness had received anonymity as the commission had reason to believe that the witness's life would be at risk if their identity was made public. This resulted in Judge Zondo requesting that criminal charges be placed on Myeni. [71] [72]
Former Bain & Company partner, Athol Williams, testified for two days presenting evidence of the alliance between Bain & Company, Jacob Zuma, Tom Moyane and others to plan the restructuring of numerous state institutions. His testimony provided evidence of the premeditated plans to restructure South African Revenue Service which led to its near collapse. [73] [74] [35] [75] In November 2021, Williams published Deep Collusion: Bain and the capture of South Africa which is based on his testimony. [76]
From 16 July 2019, Zuma testified before the Zondo Commission about his role in state capture and corruption activities. On the first day of his testimony he claimed that there was a foreign-backed conspiracy against him and that some of those testifying against him were apartheid-era spies. [77] [78] Zuma accused the Zondo Commission of being a tool to end his political career. [79] Zuma admitted to having a friendly relationship with the Gupta brothers, but denied engaging in any corrupt activities. [79] Following the first day of Zuma's testimony, the Democratic Alliance accused Zuma of trying to play the victim and misleading the commission. [80]
During Zuma's second day of testimony, he claimed that he was the target of a suicide bombing assassination attempt, the South African Police Service later stated that they were unaware of any such event taking place. [81] Zuma controversially accused senior ANC member Ngoako Ramatlhodi of being a spy involved in a conspiracy against him. [82] During the third day of Zuma's testimony he accused the commission of being biased against him and threatened to withdraw his cooperation. [83] On the fourth day, Zuma's legal team announced that it would be withdrawing from the commission, [84] [85] but later the same day announced that he had changed his mind and would return to give additional testimony at a later date. [65]
Following Zuma's testimony to the commission, South African media speculated that the chances of Zuma being later charged and convicted for crimes committed during his administration or for giving false testimony to the commission had increased. [86] [87] On 11 October 2019, a South African high court denied Zuma a motion to strike down 16 criminal charges of fraud, racketeering and money laundering related to an illegal $2.5bn (£1.98bn) arms deal which allegedly was undertaken in the late 1990s in order to ensure that South Africa's armed forces could buy 30bn rand of European military hardware. [88]
Zuma's legal team attempted to get Judge Zondo to recuse himself from the commission accusing Zondo of bias and having a supposed prior friendship with Zuma. [89] Judge Zondo rejected the recusal request. [89]
A little over 16 months after Zuma first appeared before the commission criminal charges were laid against him for walking out of the commission without permission and refusing to give testimony. [90] [91] This was preceded by a long period in which Zuma tried to avoid appearing before the commission through legal moves and arguments in the alleged hope that the commission would conclude before he would have to appear before it. [92] [93] This approach was dubbed as Zuma's Stalingrad defence strategy. [92] [94] [95] [93] In December 2020, Judge Zondo ordered Zuma to testify before the commission regarding Zuma's involvement with the Guptas business deals. [96] Judge Zondo's order was taken to the Constitutional Court which ruled that Zuma had to answer questions before the commission and ordered Zuma to pay the commission’s legal costs. [97]
Zuma defied the Constitutional Court and refused to testify to the Zondo Commission on 4 February 2021. The commission, whose mandate ends on 31 March, asked the court for an urgent order directing him to give evidence. [98] A judge later requested that a contempt of court charge be filed against Zuma. [99] On 25 March 2021, the Constitutional Court upheld a previously ruling which found that Zuma's refusal to testify before the Commission classified as contempt of court. [100] [101] On 29 June the Constitutional Court handed down a 15 month prison sentence to Zuma. [102] Shortly after Zuma's imprisonment on 7 July large scale unrest and looting broke out [103] in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, lasting from 9 to 17 July 2021.
The findings are compiled into 6 volumes, each volume comprising multiple parts with each part focusing on a specific genre of state capture. [104]
Volume | # of Parts | Subjects |
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1 | 1 | Introduction, SAA, SAAT and SA Express [105] |
2 | 2 | Transnet, [106] Denel [107] |
3 | 4 | BOSASA [108] [109] [110] [111] |
4 | 4 | Treasury, [112] EOH, [112] Alexkor, [112] Free State, [113] Eskom [114] [115] |
5 | 2 | SAA, [116] Crime Intelligence, [116] SABC, [117] Waterkloof, [117] PRASA [117] |
6 | 4 | Estina, [118] President, [119] Parliament, [119] Cadre deployment, [119] Optimum Coal, [120] Flow of funds, [120] Recommendations [121] |
Initially the findings were to be released in three parts but this number was later increased. Each of the multiple parts of the report's findings were divided into multiple volumes. An extension was requested so that the commission would have additional time to deliver its findings; this pushed the deadline for releasing all of its findings out to 15 June 2022. [122] The commission found that multiple incidents of state capture took place within South African government departments and state-owned enterprises during the presidency of Jacob Zuma as senior officials routinely broke law. [123]
Part 1 was released on Tuesday 4 January 2022. [124] [125] It has three volumes with the first volume focused on corruption within the state owned South African Airways, the second on findings relating to the Gupta family, and the third on the South African Revenue Service and recommendations to reform the government procurement system. Some notable finding of part 1 of the Zono Commission found the following:
Part 1 made the following findings regarding South African Airways (SAA):
The report recommended that:
Part 1 made the following notable findings regarding the South African Revenue Service (SARS):
The report recommended that:
Part 1 made the following notable findings regarding the Gupta family enterprises and activities:
The report recommended that:
Part 1 found that the ANC:
Part 2 was published on 1 February 2022 and announced findings on corruption and maladministration within the state-owned companies Denel, Eskom and Transnet. The following notable findings were made:
The report recommended that:
Part 3 was published on 1 March 2022 and focused on findings relating to corruption relating to the privately owned state contractor BOSASA. Following the release of part 3 the commission's findings were criticized by allies of Jacob Zuma. [136] Part 3 made the following notable findings and recommendations regarding government's interactions with state service provider BOSASA:
Part 4 of the commission's findings was divided into four volumes and published on the morning of 29 April 2022. The fourth part of the findings focused on the attempted capture of the National Treasury, corruption between the private technology service provider EOH and the City of Johannesburg, corruption within state owned diamond mining company Alexkor, the Free State asbestos removal and public housing project, and the capture of the state electrical utility Eskom. The fourth part of the commissions report made the following notable findings:
The report recommends that:
Part 1 findings
Part 2 findings
Part 3 findings
Part 4 findings
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a former anti-apartheid activist, member of uMkhonto weSizwe, and president of the African National Congress (ANC) from 2007 to 2017.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is the agency of the South African Government responsible for state prosecutions. Under Section 179 of the South African Constitution and the National Prosecuting Authority Act of 1998, which established the NPA in 1998, the NPA has the power to institute criminal proceedings on behalf of the state and to carry out any necessary functions incidental to institution of criminal proceedings. The NPA is accountable to Parliament, and final responsibility over it lies with the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services.
Knowledge Malusi Nkanyezi Gigaba is a South African politician who served as Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of South Africa appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa from 27 February 2018 until his resignation on 13 November 2018. He also held the post from 25 May 2014 to 31 March 2017 as appointed by former President Jacob Zuma. He previously served as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Public Enterprises and Minister of Finance in the government of South Africa. He is currently a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress.
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the revenue service of the South African government. It administers the country's tax system and customs service, and enforces compliance with related legislation. It is governed by the SARS Act 34 of 1997, which established it as "an organ of state within the public administration, but as an institution outside the public service." It thus has a significant degree of administrative autonomy, although it is under the policy control of the Minister of Finance. Effectively, SARS manages, administers, and implements the tax regime as designed by the Minister and National Treasury.
Samson Gwede Mantashe is a South African politician and former trade unionist. He is the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, with the function of Minister of Electricity and Energy having been accorded to Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Mantashe was Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy from May 2019 to June 2024, and Minister of Mineral Resources from February 2018 to May 2019. He is also serving his second term as the national chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC).
Corruption in South Africa includes the improper use of public resources for private ends, including bribery and improper favouritism. Corruption was at its highest during the period of state capture under the presidency of Jacob Zuma and has remained widespread, negatively "affecting criminal justice, service provision, economic opportunity, social cohesion and political integrity" in South Africa.
Lynne Brown is a South African politician who is a former Minister of Public Enterprises and former Premier of the Western Cape Province. She was born in Cape Town and grew up in Mitchells Plain. She was appointed Premier of the Western Cape following the resignation of Ebrahim Rasool in July 2008. Previously, she was Minister for Economic Development and Tourism. She is a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and an elected member of its National Executive Committee in 2007 and 2012. She is from a coloured background and was the fourth coloured premier of the Western Cape, the second from the ANC, and the first openly gay person to be appointed to a cabinet post in any African government.
Nomvula Paula Mokonyane is a South African politician who is currently the First Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC). She was the first female Premier of Gauteng from 2009 to 2014 and subsequently served in the national government as Minister of Water and Sanitation from 2014 to 2018, Minister of Communications in 2018, and Minister of Environmental Affairs from 2018 to 2019.
Raymond Mnyamezeli Mlungisi "Ray" Zondo is a South African jurist who served as the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1 April 2022 until his retirement on 31 August 2024. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Zondo as South Africa's new chief justice with effect from 1 April 2022. He served as acting Chief Justice from 11 October 2021, when Mogoeng Mogoeng retired, until 31 March 2022.
State capture is a type of systemic political corruption in which private interests significantly influence a state's decision-making processes to their own advantage.
Duduzile "Dudu" Cynthia Myeni was a South African businesswoman, a chairperson of South African Airways SOC Limited, and executive chairperson of the Jacob Zuma Foundation since September 2008.
Mcebisi Hubert Jonas is a South African politician and businessman who was the Deputy Minister of Finance of South Africa between May 2014 and March 2017. He is best known as a state capture whistleblower. In 2016, he publicly alleged that the Gupta brothers had offered him the post of finance minister under President Jacob Zuma.
The Gupta family is a wealthy and influential business family from India, with close ties to former South African President Jacob Zuma and his administration. The family's most notable members are the brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol.
Mosebenzi Joseph Zwane was the Minister of Mineral Resources of South Africa in the Second Cabinet of former President Jacob Zuma serving from 2015 until 2018. A controversial figure, Zwane resigned on 25 February 2018 following allegations of state capture and in particular his role in the Vrede Dairy Project, which helped bankroll the Gupta Family wedding.
Brian Molefe is a South African businessman and business executive.
Bosasa was a South African company specialising in providing services to government, most notably correctional services. It consisted of Bosasa Group, Bosasa Youth Development Centres, and African Global Operations. The company was liquidated in 2019 after whistleblower Angelo Agrizzi revealed the malfeasance in prolonged scandal about its allegedly corrupt relationship with members of the governing African National Congress (ANC), aired during the Zondo Commission of Inquiry.
Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) is a registered non-profit Civil Action Organisation, located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The anti-corruption advocacy organisation focuses on tackling government corruption and misappropriation of public funds. It is crowd funded by the public and businesses within the Republic of South Africa.
Mabel Patronella Mentor, known as Vytjie Mentor, was a South African politician, who served as a member of the National Assembly from 2002 until 2014. She represented the African National Congress and served as the party's caucus chairperson between 2004 and 2008. She was chairperson of the portfolio committee on public enterprises from 2009 to 2010. She is credited to be one of the first people to break ranks with the ANC and raise the alarm on state capture.
Angelo Agrizzi was the chief operating officer of Bosasa, a South African logistics company, until 2016. He is best known for his testimony to the Zondo Commission, during which he blew the whistle on the corrupt relationship between Bosasa and members of the South African government and governing African National Congress (ANC). His testimony followed a press statement released on the night of 21 August 2018, in which Agrizzi said that he had decided to "provide comprehensive details" about "racketeering, corruption and money laundering that I have been aware of over the last 18 years" at Bosasa.
Jacob Zuma, the former President of South Africa, was imprisoned on 7 July 2021 following a finding by the Constitutional Court of South Africa that he was guilty of contempt of court. The charges originated in Zuma's refusal to provide testimony to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo's judicial commission of inquiry into alleged state capture. During 2021, the Constitutional Court handed down three related decisions.