Evidence pouring out at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture highlights that ANC cadres have been very busy raiding taxpayers’ funds – not least of all Jacob Zuma’s family and friends. This week we heard how Duduzane Zuma, his father’s confidant as he has said on a YouTube-hosted video, was a shareholder in a company awarded a contract by state weapons manufacturer Denel. His firm, VR Laser, received R100m more than the next bid, my colleague Bernice Maune writes (story, here).
Similar irregular deals involving minor officials as well as the high profile personalities in the ANC have been rampant across state entities. This includes at SAA – at the time captained by Dudu Myeni, a particularly close female friend of former president Zuma – and Eskom, the power utility weighing down the economy.
SAA and Eskom are among the burdensome entities this week awarded extra tens of billions of rands to survive after being badly damaged by graft. Additional debt and taxpayers’ funds have been allocated to fix an economy weakened before the Covid-19 shutdowns by public servants distracted in feeding troughs.
The R2bn a day that SA borrows is a stark reminder that we are all still paying for the industrial-scale corruption that characterised Zuma’s presidency and lingers beyond. For more on how Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni and his team plan to get South Africa out of a precarious financial situation brought on largely through political incompetence and greed, see the stories on the Medium Term Budget Policy at BizNews.com.
Webinar alert. Tim Modise hosts the BizNews Thursday Noon webinar, which unpacks Mboweni’s medium term budget policy statement. Guests include Alan Mukoki, CEO of SACCI, and the Executive Director of Nedlac, Lisa Seftel. Register here: https://attendee.
