President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that while the era of State capture is over, corruption has still not been defeated, with fraud and corruption pervasive and deeply entrenched in the public and private sectors.

Last week marked the end of the scheduled hearings of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, more than 1 000 days after the first witness testimony was heard.

Ramaphosa spent two days at the commission last week, giving testimony to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

Ramaphosa said corrupt activities cost the country greatly, weakened the country’s institutions and deprived South Africans of many basic needs.
 
“Corruption is deeply immoral at the best of times, but takes on a greater depravity in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. One speaks here of the despicable acts of corruption last year in the procurement of goods and services needed for our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. We acted swiftly to stop such corruption, to identify those responsible and to take action against them. This is proof of our commitment to root out corruption,” he said.

While Zondo has said it may be necessary for a few more witnesses to testify, Ramaphosa believed the work of the commission, which he called “invaluable”, was one step closer to completion.
 
He said it was a significant milestone that brought the country closer to ending, what he termed, one of the “most ruinous episodes” in the history of South Africa’s democracy.
 
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa pointed out that government has tightened up Treasury regulations, established the fusion centre and given the Special Investigating Unit a wide-ranging mandate to investigate all Covid-related corruption allegations.

In a further bid at transparency, details of all Covid procurement contracts across all public entities have been publically published.
 
Ramaphosa reflected that the damage done to the country by State capture was deep and that its effects would be felt for many years to come.

“But, working together, we have started to put things right. We have started to rebuild and restore. We can expect that the outcomes of the Zondo Commission will immeasurably strengthen these efforts. They will give us an opportunity to make a decisive and lasting break with the State capture era,” he said.
 
Ramaphosa explained that much work lay ahead, and many challenges must still be confronted, adding that the country was on its way to building a society that is free from “the evils” of State capture and corruption.