Corruption, state capture are serious stumbling blocks to economic transformation

GAUTENG Premier David Makhura yesterday said that corruption and state capture were two of the most serious stumbling blocks to achieving radical economic transformation in South Africa.

Makhura was speaking at the SACP’s 14th National Congress where delegates nominate new leadership for the next five-year term, and also decide whether to contest elections for the first time as a stand-alone party, and not as part of the ruling ANC alliance.

“The SACP has been outspoken against corporate state capture and these matters of corruption. The party has given the necessary leadership in mobilising various social forces and citizens in defence of the integrity of our national developmental state and the constitution upon which our new republic is founded.”

“There is no way we as progressive people belonging to a congress movement can allow a concentration and monopolisation of our country’s national resources to be controlled by a few, whether those few are black or white,” he said.

Tolerant to crooks

Makhura told delegates that the ruling party acknowledged during its ANC national policy conference last week that they were losing moral authority as a result of being tolerant to crooks in its ranks.

“The movement must be prepared to endure insults, intimidation as well as all kinds of threats, because those who want corruption to rise and state capture to thrive are going to fight back, fight back hard. We must be prepared to endure and fight until there is a movement of liberation in our country.”

The week-long SACP National Congress will discuss state capture and the fragile state of the ANC-led tripartite alliance and how it can be reconfigured. Together with the other ANC alliance partner Cosatu the SACP has banned President Jacob Zuma from attending its meetings.

The SACP chairperson, Senzeni Zokwana, has come out very strongly against the Gupta family, criticising its alleged meddling in matters of the ruling ANC, saying this has weakened the party’s alliance partner.

This comes as news of “state capture” by the controversial Gupta family, through its influence in government and state-owned enterprises, are continuously revealed in e-mails leaked to the media. “We cannot allow the country to be influenced by one family. If they are business people, they must behave as such and stop dragging the ANC through the mud,” Zokwana said.

“The Guptas tried to influence leadership outcomes at NUM (National union of Mineworkers) since 2012, dishing out cash, but they failed. They must leave the ANC alone.”

Zokwana said the SACP was meeting at a time when there was a cloud hanging over the ANC and where its ability to win the elections in 2019 was being questioned. – ANA