Some ANC leaders who were implicated in the Zondo commission on corruption have now been sworn in as MPs.
The legal drama surrounding ANC MP Malusi Gigaba has raised questions about the possible arrests of others implicated in the State Capture Commission of Inquiry.
This comes after Gigaba’s private office in parliament released a statement on Friday explaining that he had been informed by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to present himself in court and that he will be formally charged for corruption related to alleged tender irregularities at Transnet.
This was followed by a statement by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) indicating that Gigaba has not been arrested and that he will not be appearing in court.
Inability to defeat corruption
On Thursday, EFF leader Julius Malema questioned IDAC head, Andrea Johnson, about the slow pace at which State Capture-related cases are being pursued.
“There are high-profile people [who] are mentioned in Bosasa. One of them is the chairperson of the ANC, who is a minister, Gwede Mantashe. The other one is Nomvula Mokonyane, who ate chickens every December. Those chickens were supposed to go to prisoners, and those chickens went to Nomvula.
“Our inability to defeat corruption is that high-profile individuals with money don’t get prosecuted,” he said.
Johnson reassured Malema that there would be more arrests of those implicated in state capture.
Political analysis
Political analyst Andre Duvenhage also believes that we could see more high-profile arrests soon.
“I have no doubt that we will see more arrests of prominent figures if there is anything left of our constitution. The Zondo commission has shown us that all the important political elites in South Africa, and I am talking about ANC elites, they are directly or indirectly involved in state capture or they benefited in one way or the other.
“Even worse than that, the ANC as an organisation directly or indirectly benefited from a lot of deals and therefore someone must be held responsible for this; there is more to come,” he said.
Duvenhage said he is not certain that the latest appetite among law enforcement agencies to pursue high-profile politicians has anything to do with the succession battle within the ANC.
“The fact of the matter is that there are huge battles going on and at the moment the ANC is falling apart and we are even seeing ANC members defecting to the DA in the Western Cape,” he said.
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Ramaphosa’s renewal
Duvenhage criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for not aggressively trying to ensure that the Zondo commission recommendations are implemented in full.
“He knows that the report implicates political elites and the power base of the political elites is too influential.
“Ramaphosa does not have the political will to implement these recommendations. He has said in the past that he is not prepared to take decisions that will divide the ANC and as a result of that the ANC is in a phase of corruption and that is why we are seeing reports that Ramaphosa himself is trying to opt out. Senior academics are arguing that the ANC will go below 30%.
“I think that Ramaphosa is reading the room and he is not prepared to take on the 2026 elections, and I think these are going to be difficult times for the ANC,” he said.
Duvenhage said that while the ANC has tried to show that it has discouraged corruption among its public officials by introducing the step-aside rule, this rule is ineffective.
“Their whole ethics committee is inconsistent and when they run into problems, either they do not take a decision or they take one line and not be consistent,” he said.
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