Cyril calls for urgent probe

The authenticity of allegations of the capture of South Africa’s state-owned enterprises should be urgently probed by a “competent body” and if found to be true, people should be punished, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, pictured, said yesterday.

Replying to questions in the National Assembly, Ramaphosa said an inquiry had the support of everybody, “from the president down”, and would allow the guilty to be brought to book and the innocent to clear their names.

“The veracity of the claims needs to be established. Where crime has been committed, those responsible must be prosecuted and brought to book,” he said

Ramaphosa said President Jacob Zuma was speaking to his lawyers about a proposal, which has found favour with many within the ruling party and its alliance partners.

“President Zuma has the power to establish such a commission in terms of section 84 (f) of the constitution of the Republic of South Africa and he has indicated that he’s not opposed to the establishment of a commission of inquiry.

“He’s in the process of consulting his legal advisers to find ways of giving effect to this proposal,” said Ramaphosa.

“The allegations are clearly a matter of grave concern to many South Africans. State capture, in whatever form it takes, is abhorrent and is something we all as South Africans should not, and cannot, tolerate.”

The national executive committee of the ANC at the end of May said it backed the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry to probe widespread allegations that business was exercising undue influence over the state.

Zuma has denied opposing a probe but is challenging former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report, State of Capture, in court. Madonsela directed that a commission of inquiry be established and headed by a judge appointed by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.

In an apparent reference to the #GuptaLeaks, Ramaphosa conceded that a steady drip of reports in recent weeks had harmed the country.

“The ongoing revelations of allegations of corporate capture of public institutions … have undoubtedly and understandably undermined public confidence in our country, our country’s leaders and our institutions.

“That, we have to admit. Also, that has tended to erode confidence, which we too have to admit,” he said. – ANA