ANC MP Mosebenzi Zwane, the former mineral resources minister of the Jacob Zuma administration, cocked a snook at Parliament on Tuesday and skipped the sitting where his apology for State Capture-related malfeasance was expected.

It wasn't as if ANC MP Mosebenzi Zwane didn't know he was expected in the House. "He was duly informed by me to be present in the House," ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina told Tuesday's sitting after it was clear he wasn't around, neither in person in the Good Hope Chamber nor online.

At worst, this signals flippancy, and factional fissures in the ANC parliamentary caucus; at best, a lukewarm attitude towards dealing with corruption and State Capture.

It took seven weeks for the Order Paper to include the early March joint ethics and members' interests committee report. That committee found Zwane had breached public trust -- the first time an MP has been found guilty of this -- and recommended that he be suspended from the House for a full parliamentary term. The usual penalty for breaching Parliament's code of conduct is a maximum of one month.

The committee's report, which arose from complaints in 2017 and also took in the Zondo Commission report, stipulated that Zwane must apologise for the State Capture-related sale of the Optimum coal mine to Tegeta Exploration and Resources, and his ministerial appointment of Gupta-associated businessmen. However, no reprimand was recommended.

No opportunity for...