State capture scandal threatens Zuma's administration

The burning issue of state capture threatens to eclipse the numerous scandals that have dogged Jacob Zuma’s presidency with Legalbrief noting that it threatens to split the governing alliance partners and reshape South Africa’s political landscape. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa waded into the matter yesterday (Sunday), noting that it is critical that an independent judicial commission of inquiry be established to thoroughly investigate all allegations of state capture. Delivering the keynote address at the Moses Kotane memorial lecture in Rustenburg, he became the latest heavyweight to warn that the country is on the brink of becoming a ‘mafia state’. A Cape Argus report quotes him as saying ‘our formations, especially the ANC, must implement lifestyle audits of all those in leadership structures. We must introduce, as has been proposed by the ANC, transparency into party political funding. All of these steps must be implemented without fear or favour. They must not be guided by factional interests.’