Thuli has every reason to smile

It is one of those supreme ironies which only the South African political climate seems to engender that it has taken more than a calendar year for former public protector Thuli Madonsela to finally be vindicated. “Perhaps vindicated is the right word,” conceded the softly spoken Madonsela, “to the extent that the law enforcement agencies appear to have verified the prima facie evidence presented by the report.”

Madonsela’s State of Capture report, delivered the day her term as independent defender of what constitutes what is right and just within the framework of our constitution, was roundly criticised and her recommendation – one she was well within her rights to make – was obstructed at virtually every turn.

One of the major components in the surge toward implementing Madonsela’s findings is the salient fact that neither President Jacob Zuma, nor his proxy, his former wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, hold sway within the ANC structures. That has devolved on the newly-elected president of the fractured party Cyril Ramaphosa, a man seemingly determined to unravel the multitude of mendacious and multidirectional mismanagement of the national fiscus.

Another is the new determination by the Asset Forfeiture Unit to recover some R50 million in lost national assets in only 17 cases and the unit’s intention to recover R1.6 billion from Trillian and McKinsey & Co, two companies integrally linked to the notorious Gupta family and related to state capture at state-owned power utility Eskom.

Then there is the decision by the parliamentary portfolio committee to continue its investigation into Eskom and mismanagement at state-owned enterprises that has kept the issue on the boil.

Madonsela is much to modest to crow, but it must give her inner satisfaction after the mud slung at her.