GCIS
President Cyril Ramaphosa has given himself until the end of June to present a plan of action in response to the recommendations contained in the State Capture Reports by Acting Chief Justice, Raymond Zondo.
Speaking during his State Of The Nation Address on Thursday night, Ramaphosa said his responsibility was to ensure that the Commission’s reports were “properly and carefully considered and then acted upon.”
The President said these reports, the first two of which were presented to him already, make it plain that there was indeed ‘state capture’ with public institutions and state-owned enterprises having been infiltrated by a criminal network intent on looting public money for private gain.
“The reports have detailed the devastating effects of this criminal activity on SAA, Transnet, Denel, South African Revenue Service, and Government Communications,” he said.
Ramaphosa said State Capture had a direct and very concrete negative impact on the lives of all South Africans, but especially the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society.
“It has weakened the ability of the state to deliver services and to meet the expectations and constitutional rights of people. We must now do everything in our power to ensure that it never happens again,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa said the government would, as the Commission’s first report recommends, strengthen the system to protect whistle-blowers.
This followed the public outcry following the murder of Gauteng Health Department official, Babita Deokoran, who blew the whistle on PPE tender corruption.
“The relevant law enforcement agencies are taking the necessary steps to address the immediate concern about the safety of whistle-blowers. Many individuals and companies that the Commission has found were responsible for state capture must now be held to account.”
“We are doing a detailed review of all applicable legislation and a comparative study of other jurisdictions to strengthen whistle-blower protection,” Ramaphosa said.
