Trevor Manuel South Africa

Trevor Manuel / Image via Facebook: Thabo Easy-t Pooe

State capture inquiry: Trevor Manuel gunning for Mbalula, Guptas

The former finance minister is expected to testify on the Zuma years.

Trevor Manuel South Africa

Trevor Manuel / Image via Facebook: Thabo Easy-t Pooe

Former finance minister Trevor Manuel is set to take the stand before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture on Thursday, where he will, no doubt, divulge details relating to the Guptas’ influence, particularly over Fikile Mbalula.

Deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, the man charged with overseeing the commission, has had his hands full lately. The unpacking of government endorsed corruption and malfeasance has taken many unexpected twists and turns – the most of explosive of which found Angelo Agrizzi, the former COO of dubious state contractor Bosasa, describing a sordid network bribery, corruption and underhandedness.

State capture inquiry refocuses

More recently, Eskom, and its web of disastrous supply contracts, has come under Zondo’s spotlight. Contention surrounding the Optimum coal mine – it’s operational capability and attractiveness to the Guptas – took centre stage. Sub-standard coal supply and the speculative stubbornness of Eskom boss, Brian Molefe, effectively handed the mine over, on a silver platter, to Tegeta Exploration and Resources – owned by the Guptas.

Trevor Manuel, who held the position of Finance Minister for 13 years – under the presidencies of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe – appears before Zondo on Thursday, as a respected and trustworthy witness to political shenanigans. It is, however, Manuel’s time as Minister in the Presidency for the National Planning Commission, between 2009 and 2014, which will prove to be of most value for the commission. These were the Jacob Zuma years.

Trevor Manuel tells of Mbalula’s tears

In an op-ed letter published by the Daily Maverick in 2017, Manuel reminisced, as a spectator, on those heady years of political mischief, taking particular aim at Fikile Mbalula and his Gupta sob story. In his letter, Manuel described a crying Mbalula, who, during the African National Congress’ (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in 2009, admitted to being solicited by the Gupta family in return for political favour. Manuel recalled:

“There, the Fikile Mbalula we once knew wept as he spoke. He explained he’d been called to Saxonwold by the Guptas in May 2009 and was told that he was being promoted from the position of Deputy Minister of Police to Minister of Sport. A few days later the President confirmed this change.”

Mbalula enjoyed the benefits of ministerial life and, following his fall from grace within the Department of Sports and Recreation, was appointed Police Minister. His time as top cop didn’t last long – less than a year – but in that short time, questions regarding impropriety began to bubble to the surface.

Mbalula, who has been shuffled into a campaign manager position for the ANC, is sure to be ruffled by Manuel’s testimony before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. The poignant last words of Manuel’s 2017 letter underpin the infective rot of state capture:

“That weeping was then, and this is now. Perhaps there are still a few debts to be called in by Saxonwold.”