Johannesburg – Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma ascended to the South African presidency on May 9 2009 on a wave of popular euphoria across the country.
Apart from the appointment of his cabinet, the next important appointment, if not most consequential, was the tapping of Thulisile Nomkhosi “Thuli” Madonsela in October of that year – a decision that no doubt helped save the republic and proved to be decisive to his fate. Zuma at the time said Madonsela was taking on an important responsibility.
“She will need to ensure that this office continues to be accessible to ordinary citizens and undertake its work without fear or favour.”
Madonsela was clearly listening and kept faith with the calling of the high office she occupied.
Madonsela’s term as public protector will be remembered for two watershed reports, the 2014 “Secure in Comfort” report and the “State of Capture” report – which gave rise to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, colloquially referred to as the Zondo Commission.
The commission, which was meant to conclude its work within six months, concluded its work this week aft er three years. Much has been said about the astronomical cost of the commission, R1-billion to be exact, and the time it took to complete its work.
The justification for the cost it took to lift the veil on rampant corruption in both the private sector and public service will be settled by history. What we know is that the commission lift ed the lid on the gross mishandling of public finances by elected politicians, officials and greedy business people.
The participation of auditing firms and multinational consulting firms such as Mckinsey, Bain & Company and others is another sore point.
In the final analysis, the work of the commission showed that corruption did not start with the Gupta family and their allies, and will not end with them until the governing party gets its act together and root out corruption within its own ranks.
Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo will now have to put in hours to make sense of the more than 300 witnesses who came forward, some willingly and others under duress to give evidence.
His report will be highly anticipated and will be penned without the benefit of key role players who are said to have actively participated in capturing the state. Below we look at whom the commission should have heard from.
Jacob Zuma
For all intent and purpose, the former president, who numerous witnesses said facilitated the capture of the state by his friends, the Gupta brothers, initially made an appearance before Zondo to make a political statement about two foreign intelligence agencies that had recruited spies within the ANC as part of a scheme to control the country, and that the commission he established was designed to smear him.
When the real questions about his alleged role in sate capture were put to him, Zuma resorted to now an infamous phrase heard time and again in the commission: “I don’t remember.”
His subsequent refusal to appear before Zondo led to his imprisonment at the ripe age of 79 years. His testimony would have gone a long way in assisting the commission to begin the hard work of ridding the country of bad elements.
Gupta Brothers and Salim Essa
The wealthy Gupta family, headed by three brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh, fled to the United Arab Emirates as soon as Zuma lost power and the commission began its work.
The brothers have been accused by numerous witnesses of vast corrupt dealings with Zuma and receiving favourable government contracts.
They arrogantly demanded that the commission travel abroad to hear their testimony, alternatively to testify via videolink.
This was before the advent of Covid-19. Zondo best summarised the commission’s attitude towards their posture in 2018.
“If the commission does not hear the side of the Gupta brothers, it will not be because of the commission, but that they decided to turn their backs on SA .”
Gupta henchman Salim Essa was also painted as a key player in capturing the sate on behalf of the Guptas, particularly Transnet and Eskom.
Arthur Fraser
Former top spy Fraser was painted by several witnesses as being behind the repurposing of the State Security Agency for the benefit of Zuma.
He was called to give evidence but immediately put the commission and the country on high alert when he warned that if compelled to give evidence, he would be forced to reveal “state secrets” about presidents – past and present – as well as judges and parliamentarians.
It is unknown if his veiled threat is what stopped the commission from pursuing his evidence.
What is clear is that he still works for the state as head of Correctional Services.
Gavin Watson
Watson’s company Bosasa was thrown in the spotlight when his friend turned nemesis Angelo Agrizzi captivated the nation with his colourful testimony of alleged corruption he participated in . Watson had a lot to answer for before his tragic death in a car accident in August of 2019. His death left Agrizzi’s allegations largely uncontested.
Click here to read more political analysis from this week’s newspaper.
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