‘State capture’ by the Guptas or Oppenheimers is wrong – Zikalala

African National Congress (ANC) KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Sihle Zikalala says “state capture” perpetuated by either the Guptas or the Oppenheimers family is wrong.

Speaking at a public lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) on Monday evening, Zikalala argued the idea of state capture happens because of different competing forces that pursue “antagonistic interests”‚ enter into a permanent struggle for influence and control of the state, TimesLIVE reports.

“State capture is wrong‚ whether done by the Oppenheimers or the Guptas. No member of the ANC should praise both families‚” he was quoted as saying.

According to the report, he said South Africans should move away from believing that when the state conducts itself in an “untoward manner”‚ it is labelled as “corruption”‚ but when the private sector does the same‚ it is termed “collusion”.

The debate at UKZN focused on the notions of state capture, white monopoly capital, the governing party’s recent slogan of radical economic transformation and the emergence of the civil society protests.

The “televised anger” of protests by civil society groups and political parties calling on President Jacob Zuma to step down was possibly 10 percent of that in townships and rural areas, Zikalala said.

“I hear that there are people who are angry marching. There’s anger‚ it is serious. It’s just that we have seen anger which has been televised. There’s anger in the township. People in townships are very‚ very angry.

“People wake up in the morning up until the end of the day without working and those people are very angry. And‚ for me‚ these are the people we should be more concerned about‚” he said.

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