The noose seems to be tightening around those implicated in state capture and corruption over the years with the arrests of high-profile executives who were once at the helm of hollowed out state-owned entities.
Yesterday's arrest of former Eskom acting chief executive officer Matshela Koko for alleged corruption over a multibillion-rand tender was the 27th case to be enrolled in court for alleged state capture-related offences and corruption.
Koko, his wife Mosima and stepdaughter Koketso Choma as well as his longtime friend Thabo Owen Mokoena's charges relate to a contract awarded to Swiss company Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) at Eskom's Kusile power Station in 2015.
The Investigating Directorate (ID), which was established within the National Prosecuting Authority to tackle corruption cases, has, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, declared 89 investigations and charged 165 accused persons for alleged state capture-related offences since 2018.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) CEO Wayne Duvenage said the high-profile arrests are an indication that the wheels of justice are turning against Gupta-linked individuals who facilitated corruption.
“The arrests of the likes of former Eskom CEO Brain Molefe, Anoj Singh, [former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi] Zwane... these arrests need to be celebrated because it’s the rule of law which so many people for so many years didn’t think would happen — even though the NPA took long,” he said.
Duvenage said what made him comfortable and gave hope these would result in successful prosecutions was that the “NPA will not go down this road and start a lengthy form of charges unless it had good evidence”.
“The NPA won’t want to be embarrassed by having these cases thrown out in court. They’ve got evidence. Unlike the NPA of yesterday, the NPA of Shaun Abrahams where people such as Pravin Gordhan and Ivan Pillay’s frivolous charges were thrown out of court. Today, the NPA doesn’t allow those things to happen,” Duvenage said
He described the prosecution developments in recent months as “excellent”.
“When such actions [as seen over the past few month] are taken, it raises confidence and brings hope among citizens, but the problem is that there is continuous corruption still taking place and bad management and political interference which negates that hope.”
Last month, Goitseone Mangope — an employee of McKinsey which benefited from state capture — and Vigas Sagar, a former executive of the company, appeared in the Palm Ridge specialised crimes court on charges of fraud, corruption and theft.
Sagar stands accused in his personal and representative capacity of unduly benefiting from the irregular locomotives tender at Transnet amounting to R389.4m. Sagar and the global consulting firm were formally added to a high-profile graft case which includes Transnet former CEO Brian Molefe.
Also last month, Zwane and former Sahara Computers employee Ugeshni Govender and director of Gupta-owned company Islandsite Investment, Ronica Ragavan, were arrested in connection with the Vrede Dairy farm scandal. The trio appeared in the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court where they were granted bail.
ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka said the past few months have been busy for the unit.
“It has been tough, the team has been glued to their work to ensure that we met our self-imposed targets. However, caution must be given, work has been long time in the making to ensure that we get to this point. More work continues after the matters are enrolled as we entrench ourselves as lead litigants,” Seboka said.
She said matters relating to state capture have been prioritised with more resources allocated for investigations.
In August, Molefe and Singh together with businessman Litha Nyhonyha and former Regiments Capital CEO Niven Pillay were arrested and appeared in the Palm Ridge specialised crimes court for their role in allegedly moving money from the parastatal to Gupta-related companies.
Lawson Naidoo, the executive secretary for Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), said more arrests of individuals implicated in the state capture report should bring optimism that work was being done.
“One assumes the NPA and Hawks have been meticulous in their investigations and gathering of evidence. They must have sufficient evidence to make successful prosecutions,” he said.
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