It’s time for a full inquiry

WE LIVE in a time of parallel realities, of narratives that do not seem to intersect yet bizarrely co-exist. The first of these two narratives is that a coterie of white monopoly capitalists not only control the economy but are waging a concerted battle to unseat President Jacob Zuma and his loyalists, aided and abetted by educated black middle and upper class South Africans who should know better but are part of this, corrupted by so-called white monopoly capital.

The second is just as stark: that the president has allowed himself and his family to be captured by the Gupta family, allowing entire ministries to be subverted as a pretext for a kleptocracy. This narrative lies atop the scandalous and unwarranted “upgrades” to the president’s private homestead in Nkandla and executive interference in the National Prosecuting Authority to render it at best malleable and at worst impotent.

The first narrative is reactive. Very little evidence is ever offered to prove its claims, instead the cause is fought by vocal and visible spokespeople playing the race card.

The second narrative is wholly different: popular non-sectarian public protests that unite people across colour, class and creed, probes by Chapter 9 institutions, reports by religious groups, studies by academics, entire books, all pointing to an alleged web of inappropriate influence where an entire state – and its various organs – have been subverted for the financial benefit of a single family. Even the ANC’s alliance partners have spoken out about state capture.

Yesterday was another hammer blow for the president as yet more damning reports emerged of alleged interference by the Guptas and – even more worrying – the alleged involvement of the president’s son, Duduzane.

Elsewhere, the ANC’s National Executive Committee was meeting. Of all the items on the agenda, its president’s conduct and the mounting allegations of impropriety apparently were not.

The time is long overdue for a judicial commission of inquiry into this unprecedented crisis. If our elected leaders cannot find it within themselves to lead, then our constitutional guardians must step into the breach.