Corruption and state capture in South Africa, beyond what they tell us about the values and morality of the political elite in the country, are symptoms of deep character flaws in the organisation of government. We are in danger of overlooking these structural elements if we continue to treat corruption and capture as the work primarily of bad apples or of criminals. Certainly, there has been shocking and massive criminality in government and among politicians, especially from the ANC. These individuals need to be exposed and dealt with, with the full force of the law. But it does not end there.
In August 2018, the chain of events catalysed by Jonas’s public statement about the Gupta’s bribe offer culminated in the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, also known as the Zondo Commission (https://sastatecapture.org.za/).
President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the Zondo Commission to "investigate allegations of State Capture, Corruption, Fraud and other allegations in the Public Sector …" in South Africa.
In setting up the Zondo commission, the president was implementing the recommendations by the former public protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, in her State of Capture report released in November 2016 (link to Public Protector chapter).
Because Jonas was named in the Terms of Reference for the Commission, he became the key witness in the Zondo Commission. The terms of reference stated: “The Commission must investigate whether, to what extent and by whom attempts were made, through any form of inducement or for any gain whatsoever to influence members of the National Executive, including Deputy Ministers, office bearers and directors of the boards of SOEs. In particular, the commission must investigate the veracity of allegations that former Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Mcebisi Jonas … were offered Cabinet positions by the Gupta Family”.
On 24 August 2018, Jonas appeared before the commission. His statement laid bare the shocking details of his experience and subsequent events. (Insert the PDF of his statement here). The personal toll on his was immense because his statement opened him up to unrestrained attacks from the Gupta’s and their network who wanted to discredit the man who had exposed them.
Throughout the course of the Zondo Commission, discredited individuals would come onto the scene making unsubstantiated claims against Jonas’s integrity, which meant that he, on countless occasions unseen by the public, had to defend himself against the labyrinth of the state capture network.
Despite this, Jonas’s sense of mission never waned, which was to try to ensure that state capture would not be written off as an anomaly of our democratic history but would be understood as an inevitable consequence of the general political decline and failure of the country’s leadership.
He explained this sense of mission in After Dawn, which he had also paraphrased to Judge Zondo during his cross-examination on xxx: “The Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture will only have limited success if it stops short at exposing guilty parties. The commission’s terms of reference invite it to make findings and report on the nature and extent of corruption, especially as it relates to the awarding of contracts and tenders. In other words, the commission has a historical opportunity to help develop an agenda for change in the wake of state capture. Addressing the rampant and systemic corruption is only a necessary first step. It is not enough if it is not complemented by a programme of careful state reforms, both to eliminate and reduce the opportunities for state capture in the future and to improve the performance of government administrations across the state.”
