On February 28, Raymond Zondo, South Africa’s acting chief justice, handed the third and penultimate part of a report from the judicial commission of inquiry he chairs, to President Cyril Ramaphosa. It was another chapter of arguably the most anticipated report in the Rainbow Nation, an investigation into what has been described as its largest post-apartheid corruption scandal. The report is effectively an inquiry into the affairs of Ramaphosa’s embattled predecessor Jacob Zuma, erstwhile boss to both Ramaphosa and Zondo, who was appointed in January 2018 to investigate corruption in government following recommendations in 2016 by the then-Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela.
Revealing testimonies were given on how the billionaire Gupta brothers, Ajay, Atul and Rajesh, wielded immense power and influence in government, even selecting cabinet ministers. One investigator, who gave evidence of the Guptas’ involvement in money laundering, estimated that almost 50 billion rand ($3.3bn) flowed from the government to Gupta entities alone. Both the Guptas and Zuma deny this. But public pressure is growing for the brothers, who now live in Dubai, to be extradited for prosecution in South Africa. The investigation also uncovered evidence of irregularities relating to tenders at multiple government agencies, including Airports Company South Africa, South African Airways Technical and the South African Revenue Service, among others. The report recommended that heavyweights like Siyabonga Gama and Anoj Singh, former executives of state-owned infrastructure firm Transnet, as well as Brian Molefe, former CEO of public utility firm Eskom, be investigated for corruption and racketeering amounting to millions of dollars.
Read more here.
