'DEFINING MOMENT'
Zondo’s Part One State Capture report targets Guptas’ New Age newspaper and Dudu Myeni’s destruction of SAA
It will take a year more for comprehensive action on the report. President Cyril Ramaphosa will present his recommendations to Parliament in June.
Almost four years to the day since the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture started, chairperson Judge Raymond Zondo handed the first of three reports to President Cyril Ramaphosa on January 4.
The first volume targets the Gupta family’s New Age newspaper, the destruction of SAA by former president Jacob Zuma’s consigliere, Dudu Myeni, the capture of the SA Revenue Service (SARS) and the corruption of the state procurement system through the tender system.
The first part of the report is divided into three volumes. The first volume blows the lid off corruption at SAA, SA Express and SAA Technical. Myeni was chairperson of SAA and she ran riot, the commission heard, trying to re-engineer the leasing of aircraft, catering, procurement as well as the airline’s treasury.
The second volume is likely to be most closely read as it will make the first substantive findings into the Gupta family, who owned the New Age newspaper. The New Age newspaper was used as the first battering ram to secure advertising and sponsorship rents from the state-owned Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). This was detailed by whistle-blower and former director-general Themba Maseko.
The third volume of the report deals with the SA Revenue Service (SARS), where whistle-blower Athol Williams revealed how the consulting company Bain had peddled its access to Zuma to extract massive fees from SARS. Williams has fled the country in fear for his life.
This volume will also make recommendations on how to reform the R500-billion procurement (tender) system which the commission has found to be the key leverage point of State Capture.
Judicial Commission of Inquiry Into State Capture Report_Part 1
The second part of the commission’s report comes out at the end of January and will deal with Eskom, Transnet and Denel, where the grand corruption occurred. The third part of the final report will come out at the end of February and will cover the rest of the entities studied by the commission. It will also make recommendations on other topics like parliamentary accountability and the failure of the criminal justice system and of intelligence to detect State Capture in its early incarnations.
“This is a defining moment in the country’s efforts to end the era of State Capture in our country, and to restore the credibility and capability of our government,” said Ramaphosa at the handover ceremony. He said the commission had taken long to finish its work but he thanked Zondo for an “extraordinary [job]” which he had undertaken with “dedication, determination and patience”.
The government will only develop a comprehensive view of the report once Part Three is handed over at the end of February, said Ramaphosa. He will prepare a set of recommendations to be tabled at Parliament by the end of June. This means it will take at least a year for comprehensive action on all the Zondo Commission’s recommendations. Ramaphosa said that prosecutions and other reforms, which have started, would continue. The National Prosecuting Authority has started several cases which have come out of the State Capture Inquiry.
“We have to ensure that the findings of this commission not only mark a decisive break, but that these recommendations provide the foundation for greater transparency, ethical conduct within all state institutions and across society as a whole,” said Ramaphosa.
Each part of the report will be released to the public as Zondo hands it over and will be available on the presidency website (www.presidency.gov.za).
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Great move by CR to release as received!
I imagine a bunch of nervous people will be watching that website for the download button
Was watching the whole procedings, and must say, was highly impressed with both Zondo and CR in handling the whole affair. Gosh, but the first part of the report was thicker than the Bible. A hell of a lot of reading. We’ll see what action now happens. But the worst part of the life press conference of report handover, were the questions by many of the journalists. Was pathetic! Zondo? What a star! CR? For once he sounded like a President!
Great move by CR to release as received!
I imagine a bunch of nervous people will be watching that website for the download button.
Website overwhelmed or subject to denial of service
Cadres kill the Scorpions
Cadres steal +- R1 Trillion
Cadres appoint a commission
Cadres are appointed to the commission
Cadres interact with the cadres in the commission for 4 years
Cadre receives the report detailing the cadres massive corruption and theft of +-R1 Trillion by the cadres
Cadres will, in June 2022, submit the actions they say they are thinking of taking.
WTF
Unfortunate isn’t it. I wonder who will read that to CR.
Stupid comment. Can you count to R1 trillion?
Nobody can Coen, but facts are facts … the anc is the one and only cause of the demise of SA.
Exactly! WTF!! The anc steals, the anc gets caught, the anc ‘reforms, the anc …. the anc ….
Due to Coronavirus virus and exceptional financial constraints, cut the budget of the NPA, sorted.
Of course we need to focus on the Zondo report and all patriotic South Africans stand full-square together as the many miscreants are rounded up.
But we must also not lose sight of other fraudsters, Masgashule and Estina, VBS, including Shivambu and Malema, Steinhof and Jooste, and there are many others – they all more than deserve the opportunity to study in great length and detail, life behind bars.
I speed-read the 864 pages last night, it makes for fascinating, and most uncomfortable reading for many.
Not the least for the ANC as a whole; how can it argue against the proposition that it is, or has become, nothing but a criminal cabal and enterprise? Judge Zondo is quite right to raise the question, is not the ANC far too complicit, corrupt and compromised – particularly in the light of President Ramaphosa’s priority being above all to hold the ANC together – to police and prosecute, given that the rot and corruption spreads to all arms of the State, Police, Security structures et al?
You said it! The anc can not (and doesn’t need to) argue – it is and always has been corrupt.
None of this is news. The press has reported the ills of SAA, the new age, VBS Bank, etc for ages.
I doubt that anything new will come out of the commission.
Action could have been taken, should have been taken years ago but there was no political will to do so.
Instead we feign surprise at Zondo’s findings. My goodness, were the proceeds of corrupt tenders used to fund the ANC? We had no idea.
But this very day you can pay a million odd to sit next to the president at some gala event. Why would you do that unless you wanted access to power for some advantage?
So the commission looks like another way to kick the can down the road.
Where we might have learnt a ton more is from JZ himself, but the star witness was never going to appear.
In the meantime #1 is still at large. Mountains of paper are great but if nobody does anything with it what’s the point?
We will all run around clucking and sounding erudite while the top dogs just smile and carry on. Zuma will eventually get a State funeral and Zondo and CR will say nice words at his graveside. Mao was right, change must come.
Mr President this is your defining moment to show all South Africans that when you stirred our hearts with that amazing phrase” Thuma mina”, you meant it from the depths of your heart.
Hahahaha …..
Mind-boggling. “Recommdations will be presented to Parliament in June”. The extent of not doing ANYTHING is truly astounding bit that’s CR…incapable of ACTION! Gifted at talking and promising. Meanwhile the country burns.