Court grants State Capture Commission another extension

The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has been granted yet another extension until September in order to complete its work.

This is after the High Court in Pretoria on Monday granted the commission another three-month extension as it was in the public’s interest, News24 reported.

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The commission was due to end this month, however, now the extension means that Zondo will hear President Cyril Ramaphosa’s final testimony and a couple of other witnesses in July before moving ahead to finalise the commission’s report.

Extension after extension

In February this year, the court also granted the commission a three-month extension until the end of June 2021 in order to complete its work.

This was the third request as the commission was given an extension to 31 March 2021 by the high court last year, due to the commission needing more time to be able to make proper findings, and the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The commission was announced in early 2018, and tasked with investigating allegations of state capture along with public sector corruption and fraud.

It began its work in August of that year and was initially given 180 days to wrap up.

Costs

The commission has so far cost taxpayers about R830 million without any prosecutions, according to Rob Hutchinson, managing director of public advocacy group Dear South Africa.

In July last year, it was reported that R244.5 million had been spent in 2018, the year the commission was established, and R111 million the following year.

The commission has spent a total of R830 million after it was allocated an additional R130 million to complete its work by March 2021, on top of the R700 million it had spent by then.