Here are 10 searing quotes from Raymond Zondo’s most recent report

State capture inquiry chair Chief Justice Raymond Zondo fired several shots at high-profile politicians and businesspeople, in the final part of his state capture report published on Wednesday.

Among those harshly criticised by Zondo are former ministers, former president Jacob Zuma and current President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The last part of the report was handed to Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings late on Wednesday, after a weeklong delay that sparked concerns and outrage.

The lengthy report included dozens of explosive revelations and quotes.

Here are 10 occasions in which Zondo shook the table during the final part of the report:

The ANC engaged in corruption and allowed state capture to flourish

“It is necessary to interrogate the role of the party in actively engaging in corrupt activities for its own gain, allowing corrupt activities to continue under its watch and failing to intervene to prevent or arrest such activities, creating the framework for corruption and state capture to flourish.” 

Ramaphosa preferred to look the other way when state capture reared its head

“In my view, he should have spoken out. I accept that it may be difficult to choose between keeping quiet and resisting. It would be untenable to send a message that if the same scenario were to happen again sometime in the future, the right thing is not to speak out.”

Ramaphosa was not clear about what he knew of state capture

“The president readily acknowledges the existence of state capture as a co-ordinated project and has made much of his drive to right the wrongs of state capture. However, the question of what he knew is still somewhat opaque.”

The controversial deployment committee

“Ramaphosa was chair of the deployment committee ... many of these [dubious] deployments occurred during this period. Notably, this is also the period for which the party could produce no minutes or records. 

“It is not sufficient for President Ramaphosa to focus on the future of the party and his envisaged renewal process. Responsibility ought also to be taken for the events of the previous ‘era’. He did so, partially and only in the most general terms.”

The powerful ‘scoundrels’ sweeping corruption under the carpet

“It is clear that where secret state funds fall under the control of scoundrels, only strong oversight institutions can protect the public against the harm that such scoundrels can inflict by invoking, when their conduct is called into question, the very secrecy that should exist only for the public good.”

Magashule and others were doing the Guptas’ bidding, leading to the Vrede Dairy Farm debacle

“It happened because Mosebenzi Zwane as MEC was pursuing the agenda of the Guptas and did not do his job to perform oversight over [former Free State agricultural department head Peter] Thabethe. It also happened because the premier of the province, Ace Magashule, would have also been pursuing the agenda of the Guptas.”

Duduzane Zuma was a link between the Guptas and his father

“Mr D Zuma also seems to have been involved in appointing key individuals in SOEs who facilitated the capture of those institutions. He seems to have acted as a conduit between the Guptas and government, particularly his father.”

Jacob Zuma abused his office in his dealings with TNA and ANN7

“He, as president, abused his office for his own benefit, that of his son and that of his friends, the Guptas. He placed himself in a situation of a conflict of interest and abused his position as president of the country.”

Zuma probably knew about the Guptas’ controversial Waterkloof landing

“Given how the Guptas flaunted [their] friendship with president Zuma, it is extremely unlikely that they would not have informed him about those plans and attempted to secure his support for their implementation.”

Zuma gave the Guptas power

“President Zuma enabled, indirectly, the members of the Gupta family as businesspeople to occupy a place of prominence over other businessmen, to the detriment of the empowerment legislative imperative of SA.”

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