By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised transparency and accountability in the government’s handling of corruption as he received the first of three parts of a report on state capture.
Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo handed the report to the president earlier this afternoon at the Union Buildings.
The handover follows more than three years of public hearings, which have cost R1bn, into allegations of large-scale corruption.
Zondo said its a “special day” .” It has been gruelling four years of the commission.
He explained that part 1 of the report will contain three volumes. Volume 1 deals with South African Airways and associate companies. Volume 2 deals with the New Age, the now disbanded newspaper set up by the Gupta family. Volume 3 concerns SARS, as well as the topic of public procurement in SA.
Zondo said Part 2 of the report will deal further with SOE’s, while Part 3 will cover the rest of the entities that came up during the inquiry.
A summary of the report will only be available once the complete report has been handed over.
Ramaphosa said receiving the first part of the report “marks the beginning of the final phase of the commission’s work.” He thanked Zondo and the commission on behalf of the country.
He said government will not make any comments about the report before having received all three parts.
Ramaphosa said the government will put in place mechanisms to “thoroughly” process the findings and recommendations. This will include engagements with government bodies and stakeholders.
The president said the findings in the report belongs to the people of South Africa. “The people have fought for this commission… and they have the greatest interest in its outcomes.”
He added that the full report will be given to Parliament by 30 June this year by the latest.
The president thanked the media as well as the whistleblowers for exposing much of the corruption that appeared in the commission.
Ramaphosa also thanked former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, whose work during her tenure exposed some of the corruption which was also seen at the commission.
Meanwhile Madonsela has shared her thoughts ahead of the release of the first part of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture’s report.
Madonsela described the anticipated release of the report as “a great day”, saying it was time, “five years later”, for South Africans to learn the truth regarding the state capture allegations.
The former Public Protector also acknowledged that the public may be skeptical of the report when it’s released.
“People are always skeptical and people don’t go in the same direction, but I have said in the last five years, let’s give the commission a chance [and hear] what it has to say,” she said.
Madonsela indicated that the investigation she conducted during her tenure as Public Protector was “a very simple investigation”.
“Was the state captured to support the businesses that were co-owned by the president’s son and the Gupta family, And the rest of it is detail,” the former Public Protector stated.
She also said: “It is not my place to judge how the commission was run” by its chairperson, Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
The 2016 report – penned by Madonsela – contained allegations of an improper relationship between former president Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family.
In her report, Madonsela recommended that a judicial commission of inquiry be set up to investigate the Gupta family’s influence on Cabinet appointments and state-owned entities’ boards and tenders. This gave rise to the establishment of the State Capture Commission.