State capture report delayed to mourn Tutu, says Presidency

Minister in The Presidency Mondli Gungubele briefed the country on the outcomes of the special Cabinet meeting held on Thursday, and clarified when the State capture report will be released.

After waiting three years for the State Capture report to be finalised, South Africans will have to wait just a little while longer.

State capture report

Release delayed

The State capture report was due today (31 December) however, Gungubele said the release thereof had been postponed due to observing the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s mourning period.

Three years after the Zondo Commission first convened, we now have confirmation that the report will handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa next week.

It was initially slated for release on Tuesday, but it may be delayed again.

When asked if the report will be made available to the media, Gungubele said “it will be published immediately when it’s ready”.

He explained: “It may not be ready on Tuesday, but it won’t be delayed once it’s ready; it will be made available to the public”.

The hand-over of the first part of the Commission Report will take place at the Union Buildings.

Deadline

Following the Cabinet meeting on Thursday (30 December), Gungubele said Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has until February 2022 to finalise the report in its entirety.

President Ramaphosa then has until 30 June 2022 to submit the report to Parliament, along with his intention of implementing the commission’s recommendations.

Only once the final instalment of the report has been received “will it be possible to decide on the implications and the follow-up and implementation plan”, Gungubele said.

‘Conflicted’ Ramaphosa

On Thursday, Democracy in Action (DIA) said it approach the South Gauteng High Court in a bid to stop Zondo from releasing the report to President Ramaphosa.

DIA chairperson Thabo Mtshweni said Ramaphosa had been implicated by witnesses on the stand, and that the president should instead delegate someone else, possibly Deputy President David Mabuza, to receive the report on his behalf.

“We have written numerous letters to the commission […] about the legal permissibility of handing over of the report to the president because in our view he is conflicted”.

Gupta-linked coal mine

Earlier this year, former Eskom executives Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko made allegations about Ramaphosa’s association with Optimum Coal Mine (OCM), which was then owned by Glencore, before the Guptas took over the mine.

Koko told the Zondo Commission he would “not rest peacefully” until he knew why Ramaphosa interfered in the “affairs of Eskom to instruct the board that was yet to meet to dismiss me”.

Ramaphosa, however, argued against Koko’s claims, saying that his role as the chair of the technical war room was an oversight role.

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