COSATU statement on the release of the terms of reference to guide the commission of inquiry into state Capture and Corruption

25 January 2018

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the release of the terms of reference to guide the commission of inquiry into state Capture and Corruption. We welcome this long overdue action by the President and we are also happy to note that the terms of reference explicitly state that the commission of inquiry shall be guided by the Public Protector’s state of capture report, as well as the Constitution and applicable legislation.

This probe is long overdue and the allegations of a corrupt relationship between President Jacob Zuma and the Guptas had become an albatross threatening to strangle our economy and derail our democracy. The looting of our SOE’s has plunged this country into the worst economic crisis and political gridlock since 1994.

The recent Gupta email leaks showed us that the corporate capture network around the Gupta family is widespread and that this Gupta-led parasitic-patronage network was running a parallel shadow government involving some leaders of the ANC, its leagues and government. All these issues need to be investigated and put to bed and the culprits should be held accountable.

COSATU though wants to remind government and the ANC that the battle against corruption should not start and end with the state capture inquiry. All forms of corruption must be exposed and prosecuted, including private sector corruption.The ANC government still needs to dig deeper and deal with the grave problem of corporate capture of the policies of our state and parts of our movement and individuals by sections of the bourgeoisie.

The ANC as an organisation still needs to exorcise itself of the problematic role of big money in our politics, and its corrupting influence, where money breeds factions and factions breed slates and thereby undermining internal democracy within our movement. We have also noted that the influence of big money by oligarchies is not limited to politics within our broader movement, but extends across general politics of opposition. It is against this background that we have seen an increase in political killings, intimidation of some leaders, including a deepening economic crisis.

Issued by Sizwe Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 25 January 2018