Final state capture report delayed again; commission cites processing challenges

The report was previously meant to be handed in by the end of April, but chief justice and commission chair Raymond Zondo then went to court at the last minute and secured an extension to 15 June.

Chair of the state capture commission Raymond Zondo (L) handed over the first of the report to President Cyril Ramaphosa (R) on 4 January 2022. Picture: GCIS.

Bernadette Wicks | 14 days ago

JOHANNESBURG - Wednesday marks a week since the state capture commission of inquiry’s court-ordered deadline to wrap up its work and the country is still waiting with bated breath for its fifth and final report.

The report was previously meant to be handed in by the end of April, but Chief Justice and commission chair, Raymond Zondo, then went to court at the last minute and secured an extension to 15 June.

The date came and went, though, with the report still not submitted.

At the weekend, the commission issued a statement saying it hadn’t been able to finalise the report in time but that an electronic copy would be submitted to the president on Saturday and a hard copy, on Monday.

Media Statement. #StateCaptureInquiry pic.twitter.com/a4YMVtEmFh
State Capture Commission (@StateCaptureCom) June 18, 2022

Media Statement #StateCaptureInquiry pic.twitter.com/6ZQYz3zg04
State Capture Commission (@StateCaptureCom) June 20, 2022

Again, though, this did not come to be. In its latest statement, the commission said the official handover would now take place on Wednesday.

With just hours to go before what was meant to be the official handover of the state capture commission of inquiry’s long-awaited fifth and final report, the president's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, took to Twitter to announce it would no longer be going ahead as planned.

This morning,President Ramaphosa and the Chief Justice discussed the timing of the handing over of the final Commission report. A new date and time for the handover will be announced soon.
Vincent Magwenya (@SpokespersonRSA) June 20, 2022

The Presidency still awaits the final report of the Zondo Commission and rejects speculations of interference with the judiciary.
Vincent Magwenya (@SpokespersonRSA) June 20, 2022

In a subsequent statement from the commission, it pointed to challenges involving the processing of the report and said that the handover would now take place on Wednesday.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called the delay and the explanation provided “wrong and deeply unethical", saying the only inference to be drawn is that President Cyril Ramaphosa is seeking to stall the release of the report because “it directly implicates him in state capture” and due to the farm theft saga he’s currently caught up in.

The party’s leader, John Steenhuisen, has called on both the president and the Chief Justice to explain the nature of their apparent meeting and why it was permitted to go ahead.

However, the Presidency has rejected speculation of interference with the judiciary saying it’s still awaiting the final report from the Zondo commission of inquiry.