From Luanda to Joburg: bankers, lawyers, accountants are enablers of state capture

Isabel dos Santos became Africa's richest woman in her 30s, not through sheer business acumen, although she is bright and qualified as an engineer. Instead, international journalists find that Dos Santos amassed her fortunes by taking advantage of her political links. But this daughter of a dictatorial former president couldn't manage this feat on relationships with powerful people alone. She used an army of bankers, lawyers and accountants to help her transfer wealth from the state into her own accounts and assets, spread across dozens of countries. In South Africa, the picture is the same. Former president Jacob Zuma and his coterie of corrupt associates could not have pulled off state capture, described as corruption on an industrial scale, without accountants at KPMG and other professionals. The Luanda Leaks serve as a reminder that the pattern of corruption in Africa unfortunately repeats itself. – Jackie Cameron

By Thulasizwe Sithole

South African former president Jacob Zuma and his family and friends are at the centre of a corruption scandal of epic proportions. South Africans call this corruption "state capture" because it entails individuals helping themselves to state funds through contracts and deals on the strength of political connections.

Zuma, the Gupta brothers and associates did not invent state capture. They are following a well-worn path. The recent publication of explosive evidence against Isabel dos Santos, Africa's richest woman and daughter of former Angolan dictator José Eduardo dos Santos, highlights that Zuma and accomplices are copycats.

Journalists uncovered widespread graft and self-enrichment by Dos Santos, just as journalists played a key role in exposing Zuma and his friends in South Africa.

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