PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – MARCH 31: People gather at Church Square during the #OccupyTreasury protest on March 31, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. Marchers gathered outside the National Treasury in Pretoria, calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down, following his announcement early on Friday of a dramatic Cabinet reshuffle. Axed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was also present. (Photo by Gallo Images / Alet Pretorius)
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – MARCH 31: People gather at Church Square during the #OccupyTreasury protest on March 31, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. Marchers gathered outside the National Treasury in Pretoria, calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down, following his announcement early on Friday of a dramatic Cabinet reshuffle. Axed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was also present. (Photo by Gallo Images / Alet Pretorius)
The Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises will meet will meet at Parliament’s Old Assembly Chamber this morning, to begin asking the difficult questions and holding key players accountable for their role in state capture.
Eskom, Transnet and Denel will be the first up on the chopping block for this morning’s panel. They will come under fire for their dealings with the Gupta family. Illegitimate payments and corrupt business practices have contributed to their looting of state resources.
State capture inquiry makes it to Parliament
All three are state-owned entities. And yes, Jacob Zuma does have his grubby fingerprints all over them. The president himself has done his best to obscure progress on this inquiry, though. He has challenged the findings of the state capture report itself, and also refused to establish a judicial commission to investigate.
His heel-dragging hasn’t saved him from slipping out of this situation, however. This committee has a vast amount of power and has the potential to finally, finally hold Zuma to account.
If anyone refuses to give information, they can be charged with contempt of Parliament. Lying to this committee gets you a jail sentence for perjury. Although, when you’re rumoured to have 783 criminal charges against your name like the president does, this would just be another item to stick on the bill.
The power of Prav
Pravin Gordhan is seen as the major player in this political clash. He was privy to a lot of the shady business Jacob Zuma was happy to allow his partners conduct, as the president also dipped his own quill in the ink of corruption.
The former finance minister has been vocally critical of JZ for the past 18 months. A position which saw him removed from the ANC’s cabinet during the March midnight reshuffle. If Mcebisi Jonas also gets a call up too, you can expect the heat to be thoroughly cranked up on the devious state capture merchants.
Gigaba, Zwane, Zuma, the Gupta Brothers, Molefe, Singh, Brown. Whether you’re a politician, a Gupta-stooge, or a tainted Eskom big-wig, we’ve got news for you… This free ride is coming to its last stop.
The first official inquiry into state capture will start at 09:00 on Tuesday morning.
