(John McCann/M&G)
For three years the commission of inquiry into state capture has consumed South African public life. Set up to investigate the systematic sale and manipulation of the country’s institutions for private gain, we have heard testimony that will likely permanently alter its political landscape.
Endless subplots have swirled around it, from trivial marital disputes in the Gigaba household to the jailing of a former president.
It is that man, Jacob Zuma, who has inevitably served as the villainous spectre of the piece. He has challenged the validity of the commission from the moment he was ordered to establish it by former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report in 2016.
But at every point he has found himself stumped by the judiciary, first in his attempts to halt proceedings and then to wiggle out of them. It is that sequence of events that led to a historic Constitutional Court decision to have him imprisoned, a move that reverberated across the land in the form of looting and unrest.
The narratives outside of Zuma were equally fascinating and were arguably epitomised by the cross-examination of former Bosasa boss Angelo Agrizzi, through which South Africans learned the lurid means through which the private sector can flourish in a corrupt environment.
Now it is finally coming to an end. Last week the commission was granted a fifth and (presumably) final extension. Chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo now has until the end of December to compile his report and present it to President Cyril Ramaphosa. Despite the respite it is still a herculean task that confronts him. He must comb through thousands of hours of testimony to compile his findings and establish a constructive set of recommendations.
While his life is presently difficult we have endeavoured to make yours considerably easier. Luke Feltham has compiled a timeline that represents the major events, testimonies and controversies of the commission. Think of it as a personal tour through the run-up to and the last three years in Parktown.
You can read all our coverage of the Zondo Commission here.
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