Hawks made 33 State Capture arrests

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) have made 33 arrests from the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.

The Hawks briefed parliament on progress made since the last state capture report was handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa last year.

The Hawks established a task team comprising 20 “experienced” investigators to prioritise the investigations emanating from the state capture commission in November 2022.

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The Hawks confirmed it has 47 matters arising from state capture, with five court cases, two pending the NPA’s decision, 10 cases under investigation, 30 inquiries under investigation and two finalised cases.

At least 33 arrests have been made from the state capture cases.

State capture cases in court

Among the 47 state capture-related matters, there are two cases on the court roll about the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), while two suspects have been arrested.

Six arrests have been made in relation to Eskom corruption, with one case on the roll.

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Of the 11 cases at the South African Airways, three are under investigation addressing 18 state capture report recommendations, with 62 statements taken for the case.

The Hawks also has cases in relation to Transnet and the department of transport.

The Hawks’ presentation comes a week after Chief Justice Raymond Zondo expressed concern over the slow implementation of the findings from the commission he led.

The chief justice said the slow implementation of the recommendations gave the impression that corruption had no consequences.

Zondo called for a re-evaluation of the country’s approach to tackling corruption, saying: “Whatever we have been doing as a country to fight corruption simply doesn’t seem to be working.”

Is Ramaphosa’s doing enough on corruption?

While Zondo said more still needed to be done to address corruption in the country, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government was engaged in “some activities”.

“I don’t think there are areas where they have completed, but there are some activities. The question is whether it’s enough, or happening with sufficient pace.”

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Zondo also questioned the pace at which Ramaphosa was implementing the commission’s findings against ministers and deputy ministers.

“I am not aware that he has announced to the country that he has done so in regards to so and so and has come to the conclusion that maybe the findings of the commission were not justifiable. The people of South Africa know the evidence that was led before the commission,” he said.