Hawks present state capture progress – MPs question token convictions and Gupta extradition failures

Daily Maverick

21-05-2025

The Hawks have delivered a progress report on State Capture to Parliament that details arrests and how thousands of statements have been obtained. But MPs are unimpressed, saying the report pales in comparison with the corruption that gutted South Africa.
Thousands of statements have been obtained in the State Capture case, and dozens of arrests have been carried out.
This emerged in Parliament on Wednesday, 21 May 2025, during a police committee meeting.
As part of the meeting, the Hawks outlined a presentation on progress regarding State Capture matters.
These issues, revolving around corruption in state-owned entities, surged when Jacob Zuma was president of South Africa between 2009 and 2018.
During his final year as president, Zuma established the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, known as the State Capture commission.
It ran from 2018 and in 2022 reports relating to it were handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Thousands of statements
The Hawks' presentation, aimed at highlighting responses to recommendations from the State Capture commission, showed it was dealing with 35 dockets or inquiries.
Of those, 23 inquiries and five cases were under investigation, two matters were pending based on decisions that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) needed to make, and four cases were on court rolls.
A total of seven cases had been finalised, with four of those culminating in guilty findings.
The Hawks' presentation noted about 38 arrests and showed that more than 2,800 statements had collectively been obtained in different cases.
For example, when it came to the Department of Human Settlements in the Free State, 1,229 statements had been obtained.
As for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, 889 statements were obtained.
Case closed
The presentation also outlined finalised cases.
One centred on former South African Airways chair Dudu Myeni, who died last year, and who in 2022 pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge for naming a protected witness during the State Capture commission.
She was fined R120,000 or would have had to spend two years in prison, of which a year had been suspended for five years.
The Hawks' presentation showed that officers were working with the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), an independent unit in the NPA.
Despite the inroads into State Capture that the presentation outlined, MPs reacting to it on Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction.
'Not encouraging at all'
Rise Mzansi's Makashule Gana said: 'I look at the number of cases… and I'm like, alright, is this it?
Referring to a specific slide in the presentation, which he viewed as a summary of the overall situation, he added: 'Is this it from the State Capture investigations?
'All the millions and billions that were spent on this particular [State Capture] commission, is this it?'
Gana said that it appeared that 'runners' and not the 'masterminds' of State Capture were facing legal action.
'The masterminds are not here… These numbers are not encouraging. I must say, they are not encouraging at all,' he said.
'Everything about this whole thing is just depressing.'
The DA's Lisa Schickerling also felt the report was 'lacking'.
'Very little information has been supplied to us in terms of what is actually going on.'
Schickerling pointed out that there had been 'a decade of systemic looting' in South Africa, and yet 35 dockets were under Hawks review.
'Are we being placated with token convictions?' she asked, adding that it was a 'paltry return' nearly three years after the State Capture commission reports were released.
Where are the Guptas?
Schickerling also asked what the 'big game' was and why the extradition of the Gupta brothers, whose names were linked to key State Capture accusations, had failed.
Rajesh and Atul Gupta are wanted in South Africa in connection with State Capture crimes, including fraud and money laundering.
In 2022, they were arrested in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The following year, they managed to avoid extradition to South Africa.
During Wednesday's police committee meeting, Schickerling wanted to know exactly why their extradition had failed and what was being done to 'fix' the situation.
She said the Guptas had previously made news headlines, but now 'it's almost as if the Gupta name has been swept under the carpet'.
The bigger picture
National Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya assured MPs that what was contained in the report on State Capture progress was not a full picture.
He said the Hawks were dealing with only a portion of cases, while the Idac was dealing with 'the bigger volume'.
'If we were to be presenting with the Idac, you [would] see the bigger picture,' he said.
Lebeya emphasised the Hawks were referring only to a portion of cases.
He said in terms of State Capture 'runners' versus 'masterminds,' some individuals charged were heads of departments and directors.
Lebeya did not view them as 'runners'.
He later said: 'We do not discriminate the level of the suspect, whether they are ordinary administrators or whether they're senior officers in the government… or in the political space.'
In terms of the Guptas, Lebeya did not provide details on what was happening with their extradition.
Lebeya reiterated that the Hawks focused on securing the attendance of an accused person in court. DM