ON THE MONEY
STUART THEOBALD: Compromised minister cannot deliver rational regulations
The problem with the Guptas’ capture of the state is that nothing the government produces can be trusted. Take the Mining Charter, which was released last Thursday. It is going to be tied up in court for a long time precisely because the government is so profoundly and deeply compromised. The charter was developed secretively with no consultation. Even the ANC seems to have been unaware of what was coming, and now the mining minister has been summoned to explain himself to the party. Mosebenzi Zwane, who was plucked from obscurity in the Free State government to become mining minister in September 2015, simply cannot meet the legal standard required of someone in charge of policy.He is hopelessly compromised. The Gupta e-mail leaks have revealed that his CV was passed by them prior to his appointment and they paid for his flights and hotel accommodation in Dubai and Switzerland. He trashed the separation between regulator and regulated when he intervened in the Guptas’ effort to buy...
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