The state capture phenomenon had been around as early as 2014 in South Africa during former president Jacob Zuma's administration.
That’s according to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan who will continue to testify before the State Capture Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday.
He said individual corrupt activities, through procuring goods and services from third parties at inflated prices, has been around since 2009.
The current Minister of Public Enterprises gave the example of how the government was charged inflated prices for bottled water. “The bottle costs you R6 at a shop, but the government is charged R40 a bottle”.
“Another phenomenon spiked in 2015 in many institutions, regarding procuring complex pieces of equipment and spares, for example, that of an aircraft," he said.
Gordhan said the "final penny dropped" when the Gupta emails were leaked to the media, saying people began seeing the evidence and started "connecting the dots" about the impact of State Capture.
- African News Agency (ANA)
