Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo hands over the first part of the State Capture Commission of Inquiry's report to President Cyril Ramaphosa on 4 January 2022. Photo: YouTube screenshot
The first of three parts of the report from the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture was on Tuesday handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa by the commission’s chairperson, Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
Zondo dubbed today a “special day” for the commission, which on 9 January will have been operating for four years, three of which has been spent hearing oral evidence.
This was echoed by Ramaphosa, who said the handing over of the first part of the report was “a defining moment in our country’s effort to end the era of state capture and to restore integrity, credibility and capability of our institutions and government”.
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Zondo explained the part of the report handed over forms part of three volumes.
Volume one deals with South African Airways (SAA) and its associated companies, SAA Technical and SA Express.
Volume two, due to be given to Ramaphosa at the end of January, comprises of topics such as The New Age, advertisements, breakfast shows and briefings with various state-owned enterprises and government departments which entered into contracts with the Gupta company that owned the publication, TNA Media.
Volume three, to be delivered at the end of February, deals with the South African Revenue Service and public procurement in South Africa.
Zondo said this volume will look at the position of public procurement “within the contexts of the terms of the commission”.
A summary of the entire report will only be provided when volume three is handed over to Ramaphosa.
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Ramamphosa said the report of the commission’s work belonged to South African citizens, and not the president, as it was the people who fought for the commission’s establishment, observed proceedings for years, and has “the greatest interest in the outcome of Justice Zondo’s commission’s report”.
As such, it was confirmed that each part of the report will be released to the public immediately after it is received.
The report is now available on the Presidency website.
Ramaphosa said releasing the report to the public was done in the effort of absolute transparency and accountability.
However, when Zondo and Ramaphosa were asked about the contents of the report, they remained tight-lipped.
Ramaphosa said interventions would only be instituted once the final part of the report was received.
“Government will not make pronouncements on the findings or recommendations before receiving all parts of the report and considering all three parts.”
The full commission report will be submitted to Parliament by 30 June at the latest, but may be submitted earlier, Ramaphosa added.
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As parts of the report are received, “appropriate mechanisms” through thorough processing will take place, which will involve engaging with relevant and implicated departments, agencies, public entities and other stakeholders.
Ramaphosa said the parliamentary submission by the end of June also does not prevent other institutions from acting within their statutory mandate on any of the findings of the report, especially since it was being made public.
“This report enables us to up our tempo in dealing with state capture.
“If we all work together, we will be able to rid our country of gross acts of corruption seen in the past,” Ramaphosa said.
Judicial Commission of Inquiry Into State Capture Report_Part 1 by Nica Schreuder on Scribd
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