‘White monopoly capital’ is about helping the Guptas, says Madonsela

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela tweeted on Sunday that, in her view, the ongoing campaign against so-called “white monopoly capital” (WMC) in South Africa is indeed about deflecting attention from state capture.

She weighed in on the debate and pointed out that people have apparently been getting distracted about the real, pressing issue, and it’s not about ownership patterns in the country but rather the plunder of public resources and funds.

She wrote: “The #StateCapture problem is not [about] who owns what wealth or percentage of minerals. It’s who’s STEALING from and impoverishing the people of SA.”

She advised anyone still in doubt to examine the behaviour of those on the internet and social media who have long been suspected of working for the Gupta family.

She said it was obvious that whenever the topic of state capture was raised, the “trolls” would “promptly divert” the dialogue to WMC.

If in doubt that #WMC Campaign seeks to deflect attention from #StateCapture, note how trolls promptly divert #StateCapture dialogue to #WMC

— Prof Thuli Madonsela #KindnessBuilds (@ThuliMadonsela3) August 13, 2017

Since her departure as public protector last year, the recommendations of her State of Capture report are yet to be acted on by President Jacob Zuma, who has in fact been doing everything in his power to prevent the chief justice from appointing the head of a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture.

Madonsela nowadays works to promote her foundation, is a Harvard advanced leadership fellow and describes herself as a “life activist on justice, human rights, rule of law and governance”.

She played a role in the 1990s in helping to draft the democratic constitution.