By: Siki Dlanga
The Gupta brothers were allegedly arrested in Dubai earlier this month. What a grand conclusion of the State Capture report? There is much clutter around this idea of State Capture that it is easy to forget what it constitutes.
Advocate Tembeka Ngukaitobi reminded us during his interview with Leanne Manas on SABCNews: “The bulk of her report focused mainly on, I would say, Eskom capture. That was the primary concern that she had.”
This was his summary of Advocate Thuli Madonsela’s recommendation for the State Capture enquiry. In my view, a court trial of those charged with corruption would have been more fruitful. African American TV personality Steve Harvey once trended on social media for telling South Africans that someone was making money from our loadshedding troubles. In other words, he was suggesting that there is no way that a country like ours needed loadshedding. Someone was benefitting, and we were allowing it.
If Eskom is the reason the commission was established, if the Guptas were the main villains – given the problems we continue to experience with Eskom – was this a battle between the Guptas and Glencore for Eskom?
Glencore has been operating in South Africa since 1974. The multinational pleaded guilty to bribery in foreign markets between 2011-2016. At the Commission, Matshela Koko accused Glencore of not paying Eskom from 2012. Cyril Ramaphosa was involved with Glencore by then. He further claimed that Glencore owed Eskom R2 billion from that time. Furthermore, Glencore is yet to pay what it owes Eskom. On the other hand, Glencore denies corruption in South Africa while they have admitted to bribery of foreign officials in 5 African nations. Switzerland and the Netherlands are continuing with investigations of the multinational. What about South Africa, where they have been operating since 1974?
After their global corruption scandal, Glencore defended Ramaphosa. They confirmed that he sold his Optimum Coal Mine shares in 2014 before his involvement in Eskom War Room as Deputy President in 2015. Glencore further denied that they leveraged their relationship with Ramaphosa afterward. It would be ludicrous to take Glencore at their word. South Africa must follow the US, UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland, which have conducted their investigations.
What Jessica Bezuidenhout wrote about Glencore demonstrates the fierceness of the battle lines drawn between the Guptas and Glencore over Eskom. Bezuidenhout’s 2019 article states: “Glencore found itself cornered, stonewalled and punished as it tried to cling to Optimum Coal Mine amid interventions by government officials and Eskom executives allegedly intent on forcing a sale to the Guptas.” Given Glencore’s unfolding global reputation, corrupt dealings with government officials, and history with Ramaphosa, what are the chances that they would not use his political position for their benefit? This is how they have operated in any other country. Why would they not do it here? Why would Ramaphosa not be their key player? After all, the stakes were high with aggressive competition like the Guptas, who are accused of similar tactics.
We still do not know from where the president’s millions of dollars originate. There is that too. He has been unable to be transparent to the nation.
During the Zondo Commission, Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko, former Eskom executives, each presented the commission with an opportunity to lead the global investigation against Glencore. What they accused Glencore of is different from what it has been found guilty of in other countries. What are the chances?
Chief Justice Moegoeng Moegoeng created a sense of hope in the nation through his fearless judgments during Jacob Zuma’s presidency. His unconflicted judgments built the nation’s confidence in the judiciary. We knew that justice was what we could rely on if politicians were bent on failing us. One wonders how different the commission might have been having it been led by a judge who does not sit with presidents in private meetings.
We do not know from where Ramaphosa’s dollars originate. We do not know why the Zondo Commission did not investigate Glencore, given its admission to other countries and its focus was mainly on Eskom. Our scientific community gained global recognition during the COVID pandemic because of their excellent, groundbreaking research. Many of them have been offered positions all over the world as a result. Our justice system was able to showcase South Africa as a leader again. Now that Glencore has been found guilty by the US Department of Justice and the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office, perhaps those countries will ask questions about our judiciary given our publicised State Capture commission which has already been criticised. Our country must carry out its investigations.
Questions arise about our judiciary despite the attacks on Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s statement about the same issue. The DA claims to have requested the FBI to investigate the Phala Phala couch dollars. Does this have anything to do with their lack of confidence in our institutions – particularly our justice system? Are they afraid our judiciary is captured and may not adequately investigate the president? Had the DA been confident in our institutions, they would not have asked the Americans to investigate the president’s dollars. Our Chief Justice has an opportunity to restore faith in the judiciary. His private meetings with presidents do not assist the nation more than his press briefings to defend the bench from being called ‘house negros.’ The work of the judiciary must achieve works that restore public confidence in the judiciary, as we saw in the days of Chief Justice Moegoeng Moegoeng. He, too, faced insults, but his work spoke for him.
