The ANC have been complicit in State Capture from the get go – fact.

State Capture has infiltrated and infected all the organs of the state. From high profile cases linked to public enterprises such as Denel, Eskom, South African Airways and Transnet, to provincial State Capture in provinces like the Free State linked to the Vrede dairy farm saga, onto local municipal capture where money was diverted from education, electricity and basic services to fill the pockets of the elite. It has permeated every level of government thanks to an ANC that would rather serve itself than the people of this country. It is for this reason that the DA (Democratic Alliance) held a demonstration outside the Zondo Commission, challenging the ANC to testify and be held accountable for bringing us State Capture.

The ANC have allowed this parasite to grow, supporting Jacob Zuma and his acolytes as they went about pulling down all the checks and balances that have been established to prevent abuse of state resources and appointing corrupt and bendable minions in key areas of control from SARS through to boards of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and heads of prosecuting authorities. A parallel state was indeed created.

When the time came to account, the ANC have just rotated people out or asked them to leave, however, no punishment has been dealt out and no one has gone to jail for these crimes. The total bailout, subsidy, capital injections by the government for state-owned enterprises is an eye-watering R161.98 billion since 2008. That is just money wasted to prevent the collapse of these mismanaged and captured entities. This does not account for municipal money provincial or departmental money that has been pilfered. I reiterate the fact that no-one has been punished for these crimes yet. The ANC continues to plod along as if they did nothing wrong.

The Zondo Commission of Inquiry is a wave of change that is washing away all the barriers that the ANC have put in place to cover up their complicity. This inquiry has come to fruition thanks in a large part to the Eskom Inquiry which we, as the DA, championed and spearheaded through the Committee on Public Enterprises.

The ANC must be called before this inquiry to account for their involvement in allowing and enabling State Capture to take place. High profile names have been mentioned, names such as Gwede Mantashe, current Minister of Minerals, and Mosebenzi Zwane, former Minister of Minerals, that held meetings with banks to try to assist the Guptas. Cabinet meetings, behind closed doors, discussed the issues of Zuma and his State Capture exploits, for years without stopping him. This is a case of an ANC that supported State Capture while it grew under their noses. The ANC has put itself first ahead of South Africans for years, and enough is enough.

The money that has been wasted through State Capture could have been used for a petrol stabilisation mechanism to alleviate petrol price hikes or built new refineries to bring down the cost of imported oil. It could have been used to develop agriculture land or build new clinics, schools and hospitals. It could have been used for job creation initiatives linked to special economic zones or into an infrastructure development fund. Instead, it went overseas and into an elite cabal’s bank accounts who now live in six-star luxury, while inequality in South Africa continues to grow exponentially.

At the same time as the money was flowing out of SA, the ANC government has increased the cost of living for every South African by raising taxes to fill the gap left through State Capture. South Africans are poorer today than 10 years ago, thanks to an ANC that does not care.

Change is in the air. The ANC will account for their acts of selfishness at the 2019 elections. DM