President to receive report on state capture inquiry

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appears to testify before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in Johannesburg, South Africa, 11 August 2021. Reuters/ Sumaya Hisham

A statement on the Special Cabinet Meeting that took place on Thursday said the hand-over of the first part of the Commission Report will take place on Tuesday, 4 January 2022.

“The Commission Chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, will hand over the first part of the report at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. This follows the ruling of the Gauteng High Court on 28 December 2021, which extended the term of the Commission to 28 February 2022.

“In its submission to the Court, the Commission indicated that it would submit its report to the President in three parts: the first to be submitted at the end of December 2021, the second at the end of January 2022 and the last at the end of February 2022,” Cabinet said on Friday.

While the Commission has indicated that it is ready to hand over the on 31 December 2021, as it had committed, the formal handover of the report will only take place early next week due to the mourning period in honour of the late Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

According to the court order of 28 December, the President will have until 30 June 2022 to submit the report to Parliament with an indication of his intentions regarding implementation of the Commission’s recommendations.

“As the President indicated to the Court, only once the final instalment has been received will it be possible to have complete sight of the report’s implications and to develop an implementation plan on the recommendations.

“President Ramaphosa has decided that each part of the report will be released to the public immediately after it is submitted to the President by the Commission,” Cabinet said.