State capture: Ramaphosa yet to receive Zondo’s final report

Despite the deadline having been two days ago, the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture has not sent its final report to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The commission, chaired by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, was granted an extension until 15 June to complete its work.

The previous extension was granted earlier this year until 30 April.

ALSO READ: ANC must stay out of parliamentary committee on State Capture, say opposition

The Presidency announced on Friday morning that it has not yet received the final report, but said the fifth volume would be on Ramaphosa’s desk soon.

“The President has not yet received the Zondo Commission report. The commission secretariat has not confirmed the time and date of delivery. However, President Ramaphosa has been assured that the report will be released soon,” Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has since raised its concerns regarding the delay, saying it would write to the Zondo commission over the matter.

“As a result, the country remains in limbo as to when the final report will be released. The DA will be writing to the commission to request that the reasons for the delay be shared with the public.

“But our primary concern is that if the report has been completed, it must be released to the public without any further delay,” DA spokesperson Cilliers Brink said in a statement.

READ MORE: Tony Yengeni guns for Chief Justice Zondo over state capture findings

“The South African public has waited long enough to know the full details of what transpired during the state capture era.

“Parliament and law enforcement agencies have urgent work to do in response to the findings of the Zondo commission, and the delay in the court mandated deadline for the release of its final report threatens to undermine this entire project,” Brink added.

Parliament

Parliament has already begun establishing “appropriate systems” to process and oversee the implementation of Zondo’s reports.

The Joint Ethics Committee has been tasked to investigate possible contraventions of the parliamentary code of conduct during the state capture era.

This applies to current members, who were serving in Parliament when any alleged transgressions took place, according to Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo.

READ MORE: NPA’s Investigating Directorate registers 20 state capture-related prosecutions

Parliament also expects the president to submit all outstanding state capture reports, along with the implementation plan, in October rather than August as previously mentioned.

Ramaphosa has already submitted the third and fourth volume of the state capture reports to Parliament.

Part three of the commission’s report dealt with the conduct of current and former MPs implicated in allegations of state capture as well as Bosasa, among others, while the fourth volume included findings on Eskom, National Treasury, the Free State asbestos project, and the R1 billion housing project.