Leadership
Flash Briefing: Guptas centre stage in State Capture report, Part 2; SA govt behind SOEs dismal failure – Zondo; Solidarity tackles state of disaster
The Guptas and their associate Salim Essa used a supplier, VR Laser Services, as a "vehicle" to capture state defence technology company Denel.
- The Guptas and their associate Salim Essa used a supplier, VR Laser Services, as a "vehicle" to capture state defence technology company Denel, the State Capture Commission has found. The commission, led by Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, on Tuesday handed to the Presidency the second part of its report. It is split into two volumes and focuses on capture of Transnet and Denel. "The entry into VR Laser by the Guptas and Mr Essa was effected with the intention of using it as a vehicle with which to capture Denel," the report read. Notably, the report makes findings against former public enterprise ministers Malusi Gigaba and Lynne Brown, saying they aided and abetted the state capture process as willing participants with close ties to the Guptas.
- Acting chief justice Raymond Zondo says that South Africa's government has proven incapable of appointing CEOs and other officials to public enterprises and recommends that a board be set up to choose the right people for the job. Zondo's comments were contained in the latest state capture report. Zondo describes key SOEs as a dismal failure, with many rooted in corruption, collapsing, and needing to be bailed out by the National Treasury. These failures, however, start as soon as government officials and ministers get involved with appointing executives. SAA, Transnet and Eskom were among the SOEs cited at which dodgy appointments had been made by the executive.
- Trade union Solidarity on Wednesday served court papers seeking the annulment of the Covid-19 state of disaster, saying SA needs to return to a functioning democracy. The union lodged its papers at the high court in Pretoria against co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and the national coronavirus command council. "By its own relaxation of regulations, the government has already announced that the disaster is a thing of the past. The Disaster Management Act is intended to create a drastic, yet short-term situation to allow the government to move quickly," Solidarity CEO Dirk Hermann said. "It is absurd that the governing party wants to keep us in a semi-autocracy."