South Africa has an embedded ‘cross-cutting matrix of corruption’ says Ferial Haffajee at ‘Days of Zondo’ launch

‘I found the Commission both a horror and an honour to cover. It formed part of the arsenal in the fight for freedom from corruption. And, as a great man taught us, it’s always a long walk to freedom while another reminder to us that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,” reads an excerpt from Daily Maverick associate editor and author Ferial Haffajee’s new book, Days of Zondo: The Fight for Freedom from Corruption.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NELlAEMOH68

The excerpt kicked off the Daily Maverick webinar, a virtual book launch hosted by Scorpio investigative journalist Pauli van Wyk in conversation with Haffajee. The book, which Van Wyk described as a nuanced telling of the story of State Capture, but also a “deep dissection of the current status of South Africa and how we got here”, is a definitive guide to what was exposed during the Zondo Commission.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Days of Zondo: Mission accomplished”

Haffajee said the book was her attempt to understand the process of State Capture through the lens of the Zondo Commission — a process of inquiry that the acclaimed journalist covered extensively. 

The contents of the book are divided into three parts. Part one, “The Map”, gives readers the road map of the locus of State Capture; “The Mechanism” illustrates how “corruption has become so vertically and horizontally embedded in the system that its operation extracts and misdirects a substantial development dividend”; and finally in “The Matrix” the author gives case studies of Eskom, South African Airways, Transnet, Bosasa and the Free State asbestos housing scandal. 

Haffajee explained that she had arrived at “The Matrix” after trying to organise her material, “to realise that what we sit with now is an embedded and fermenting culture of capture — or cross-cutting matrix of corruption — that cuts across State Owned Enterprises into provinces, and into local government as well.”

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“Most of us will see the impact of that where we live,” she said.

The author said that during an interview with Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, and with the head of investigations in the commission of inquiry, Terence Nombembe, they told her that they suspected the same corruption patterns would be evident across the country. 

Van Wyk asked Haffajee about her thoughts on justice for the key players, ranging from the Gupta family to former president Jacob Zuma, Gupta lieutenant Salim Essa, Iqbal Sharma, Ace Magashule, SAA’s Dudu Myeni, former Transnet CEO Brian Molefe and numerous ministers and associates and business leaders.

Referring to some of the high-profile criminal cases happening currently involving some of those implicated in the State Capture report, Haffajee said: “Work is going on. To be honest with you, I’m not sure that it’s fast enough to be completely disruptive of the processes of capture.

“But, we’re not going to prosecute our way out of State Capture,” said Haffajee. “It’s going to take an all-of-society approach to try, at least, to reverse the trend which I think we see all of the time.”

While many people may be of the opinion that South Africa is past the era of State Capture, Haffajee disagrees with this view.

She said Judge Zondo has repeatedly stated that when people look at what the commission uncovered and the report, they must remember that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Commenting on Judge Zondo’s remarks, Haffajee said: “I think that we have to not be hopeless about that awareness, but be challenged by that.

“There is no way it’s over.”

Turning one’s face away from the inherent corruption in our society may be instinctive because the problem seems just too big and pervasive, said Haffajee. “But what I think what the whistleblowers, civil society and the people who gave Daily Maverick the #GuptaLeaks emails show us is that it often takes a small and simple action to change the trajectory of the story.” DM

Ferial Haffajee’s Days of Zondo: The Fight for Freedom from Corruption is available at the Daily Maverick Shop where Maverick Insiders can use their coupon for a 10% discount.

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