DA angered by Parliament’s claim that no one will be arrested for state capture

19 February 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply angered and dismayed by Parliament’s announcement that no one will be prosecuted for state capture until at least the end of the year.

A document sent by Parliament’s research unit to the portfolio committee on public service and administration on Monday, casually stated that “It would not be prudent to act on information and evidence now until the Commission makes a determination on the matter because it would be sub judice and therefore litigious against the State and prosecuting authorities to act on it.”

Given that the Zondo Commission into State Capture has already applied for an extension until the end of the year, this is an indication that there may be no plans to carry out any arrests until at least the end of the year.

This is nothing more than an effort to protect the ANC’s state capture criminals, who virtually looted our country into bankruptcy, from accountability. There is simply no legal reason why state capture criminals cannot be arrested during the term of the Zondo Commission.

In today’s portfolio committee on public service and administration, I will raise this matter as a point of urgency, as the looters and thieves simply cannot get away with what they have done.

This statement from Parliament likely helps explain why not a single ANC criminal is wearing an orange overall for state capture, with many of them instead still sitting members of the same Parliament that issued this announcement.

It may also reveal the existence of a deliberate strategy by the ANC and President Cyril Ramaphosa to deceive the people of this country by repeatedly promising arrests while knowing full well that there will be no action taken against state capturers.

The DA will not rest until we have uncovered the full truth of the ANC’s plan to shield state capturers from accountability. In addition to demanding answers in today’s committee meeting, we will also submit a series of parliamentary questions to relevant ministers for more information on this scheme.

We will not rest until there is justice for the people of South Africa, including the 30.4 million people who have been locked into desperate poverty by the ANC’s state capture project.

Issued by Leon Schreiber,DA Shadow Minister for Public Service and Administration, 19 February 2020