Thuli’s last examination of Guptas’ grip

THE country will know in the next few weeks if President Jacob Zuma allowed the Gupta family to influence his decisions to appoint members of his cabinet.

The public protector, Thuli Madonsela, is expected to table her preliminary report into state capture before she leaves office on October 15.

Kgalalelo Masibi, Madonsela’s spokeswoman, did not respond to questions on the report yesterday.

Madonsela has lined up several of Zuma’s top ministers to interview on state capture. She has requested minutes of the cabinet and declaration of financial interests of members of the executive.

Madonsela wanted to understand how decisions were taken to appoint cabinet ministers and board members of state-owned entities (SOEs).

The Sunday Times reported yesterday that Madonsela had lined up 23 cabinet ministers and top officials in the government. She has already interviewed some members of Zuma’s cabinet.

On Thursday Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe told journalists in Parliament that the public protector had subpoenaed ministers on their financial interests.

She has four weeks left before she leaves the position she has occupied for the last seven years. State capture is her last major investigation in the country before she goes.

Her preliminary report could shed light on what went on behind the scenes in the appointment of ministers and board members of SOEs.

Zuma has denied claims that he is under the influence of the Gupta family.

He has been under pressure in the last few months to quit after allegations of state capture. But he has refused to accede to the demands from some within the ANC and outside the party.

The conclusion of the preliminary report by Madonsela would be a first step in understanding if Zuma is under the influence of the Guptas despite his long-standing denial.

The Guptas have also denied the claim and three weeks ago the family publicly released its financial results to indicate it was not benefiting from government business.

It said its company, Oakbay Investments, had made only 9% of its revenue from the government business.

This was R233 million out of the total of R2.6 billion the family made in the last financial year which ended in February.

But Parliament has been the battleground where the opposition has called for Zuma’s head over state capture.

The Guptas were reported to be on their way out of the country, with reports suggesting Dubai as their next destination.

They also announced a few weeks ago that they would sell off their businesses in South Africa and were talking to international partners.

The international companies involved in buying their businesses have not been named. But the Guptas said they would sell their businesses by the end of the year.

THULI Madonsela has done more than anyone before her to breathe life into the office of the public protector as the clock winds down on her incredible tenure at what was once a sinecure but has since become a true voice for the voiceless.

Most ordinary observers would have been forgiven for expecting her to spend what time she had left basking in what she’s achieved, tidying up her files, packing up her office and dusting off her CV to send out to her next prospective employer.

Advocate Thulisile Madonsela is no ordinary person, she’s certainly been no ordinary public protector.

Her final gift to herself – and us – will be to work at breakneck speed to get to the bottom of her report into state capture – by subpoenaing a raft of cabinet ministers (and their deputies) no less to probe their financial interests to ensure that they serve at the behest of the constitution rather than in the pockets of well-connected tenderpreneurs.

The issue of state capture has come, tragically, to define post-apartheid South Africa in its 22nd year even more than the failed aspirations of a generation of born-frees who feel fettered by lost opportunities in a country that still does not feel theirs.

Madonsela’s work – speaking truth to power – afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted does as much for them, this lost generation, as it does for the rest of us, who often lie awake in the wee hours fearing that our birthright may have been sold for a proverbial mess of potage.

Madonsela will leave her predecessor a giant pair of shoes to fill and the rest of us a gaping void in the body politics when she leaves office, but until then she will spend every last minute trying to get to the bottom of this spectre which looms so large over every aspect of the rainbow nation.