South African Graft Commission Concludes with Ramaphosa Testimony

The three-year long Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture has concluded with testimony brought by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa acknowledged rampant corruption within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party under former President Jacob Zuma,writes Linda Givetash for Voice of America.

Addressing the Commission, Ramaphosa said a line had been drawn in the sand and said the party is going to be very serious in dealing with corruption. The judicial commission is investigating the looting of the state's coffers under former president Jacob Zuma, in which Zuma's business associates allegedly won state contracts and undue influence over government.

Ramaphosa was deputy president under Zuma for four years before succeeding him in 2018. He told the commission the ANC party is changing its ways. "We are prepared to hang out our linen in the open and now having drawn a line in the sand we are going now to be very serious dealing with corruption," he said. "You may say why didn't you do so over a period of so many years but it's better late than never." Ramaphosa claims to be in the dark about many corrupt dealings and kickbacks to politicians and their associates during the Zuma administration. He also said he chose to stay in politics and move up the ranks in order to bring about positive change.

Zuma was admitted to a correctional facility in Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal province almost a month ago to start serving a 15-month jail sentence handed to him by the Constitutional Court for contempt of court over his failure to appear before the Zondo Commission. The former leader's incarceration sparked unrest, with multiple incidents of violence and looting recorded in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Zuma is accused of receiving 791 payments, totaling U.S.$284,000, between 1995 and 2004 from his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik and Shaik's companies, to help French arms manufacturer Thales, accused number two, secure lucrative defence contracts from the government, as part of the country's multi-billion rand 1999 armaments deal.  Shaik was released on medical parole on March, 3, 2009, after serving two years and four months of his 15-year prison term.

The state capture inquiry saga saw evidence brought against other high profile individuals including the Gupta family, known associates of Zuma, and former South African Airways chair Dudu Myeni.