Zondo Commission still ‘finalising’ State Capture report

The Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture is still finalising its final report following speculation that it may be released earlier than expected.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the commission, chaired by Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, indicated that the report will be sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa “once it has been completed”.

“The commission wishes to inform the public that it is in the process of finalising part [four] of its report which it will deliver to the president once it has been completed. The public will be informed in one way or another once it is known when part [four] will be delivered to the Presidency,” the commission’s secretary, Itumelang Mosala, said.

Ramaphosa is expected to submit the final report to Parliament in August after the commission was granted an extension in February.

The president will also present an action plan for implementation of the report’s recommendations.

Extension

The Pretoria High Court has granted the commission a further two month extension – until 30 April – to complete its work.

It was the seventh extension that has been granted to the commission since its establishment.

When the commission initially approached the court, Zondo said the delays in submitting the full final report were due to a number of factors.

These included Zondo’s Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interview for the Chief Justice post as well as the fact that he needed more time to go through further documents on certain topics submitted to him.

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The commission has already submitted three volumes of the inquiry’s report to the Presidency.

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

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

The Citizen previously reported that the commission has collected 71,000 pages in submissions from more than 300 witnesses ever since the inquiry began its work.

The commission has spent more than R1 billion.