That's the picture emerging from a judicial commission of inquiry into the alleged theft of public funds during former President Jacob Zuma's tenure – a practice locally known as state capture. The first witnesses have implicated members of the Gupta family, who are Zuma's friends and were in business with one of his sons, in plundering billions of rands from South Africa's coffers with the tacit assent of the president and law-enforcement agencies.
While much of the information was already public, the testimony has highlighted how widespread the looting was and how deeply compromised state institutions became. Former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who now looks after state companies, previously estimated that more than R100 billion ($6.7 billion) may have been stolen.