Ramaphosa stresses that “it is an instrument” to “work to ensure that these events do not happen again”
June 23 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has received the final report of the commission of inquiry into the alleged cases of corruption during the mandate of his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, after which he has promised to deliver it to Parliament so that the recommendations presented can be applied.
“We have received and published the final part of the report of the Judicial Investigation Commission on Accusations of Capture of the State, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector,” said the president, who has branded this stage “an assault against democracy that violated the rights of every man, woman and child in the country.
Thus, he has defended that “through the various reports published by the commission it has been understood what happened, who was involved and what effects this capture of the State had on the country, the economy and society”, before recalling that the evidence point to “abuse of power” and “corrupt activities” authorized by public institutions.
“The work of this commission is a vital part of our effort to confront state capture. This report is much more than a compilation of widespread corruption, fraud and abuse, as it is a tool through which the country can work to ensure that these events do not happen again,” he argued.
In this sense, he has pointed to an “enormous debt of gratitude” with the president of the commission, Judge Raymond Zondo, for the “monumental task” that both he and the investigators and lawyers have carried out “during four years of service to his country”, according to a statement published by the Presidency through its website.
“This report gives us the opportunity to make a decisive break with state capture. I ask everyone to support the measures that all state structures will take to return the country to the path of integrity, transformation and progress,” he said. riveted.
The investigations for the ‘Capture of the State’ were launched after the accusations of corruption that were collected in a report by the former South African Public Defender – a figure equivalent to the Ombudsman – Thuli Madonsela, in which her connections were detailed with the Gupta family, with ties to Zuma.
Zuma was sentenced in June 2021 to 15 months in prison for contempt for refusing to testify before a judicial panel investigating corruption during his tenure, while also facing trial for alleged corruption for nearly 800 payments he allegedly received in connection with a purchase of weapons from the French company Thales to modernize the country’s defense apparatus in the late 1990s.
The former president is the first democratically elected president in South Africa to be sentenced to prison since the African National Congress (ANC) – a party he led between 2007 and 2017, when he was removed in an internal council by his vice president and current president, Ramaphosa – – seized power in 1994.
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