Deputy Chief Justice to give state capture inquiry update

Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s R230-million state capture inquiry is already under pressure to expand its scope by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and is struggling to obtain "top-secret" security clearances for its staff from the State Security Agency.

And there is no certainty over how that R230-million cost‚ earmarked for the first six months of the inquiry‚ may increase over its provisional two-year timeframe.

Zondo has raised questions about whether that two-year period will be enough to finalise his probe into‚ among other things‚ the alleged influence of the Gupta family on the appointment of ministers in former president Jacob Zuma’s cabinet.

"It is not easy to give an estimate that can never change in the future. This is because the commission is in the early stages of the investigations and‚ as investigators continue investigating‚ they may unearth evidence and other matters that could affect the assessment [of how long the inquiry will take to complete]‚" Zondo says in court documents.

He will on Friday brief the media on the starting date of the inquiry‚ whose terms of reference direct it to investigate specific allegations contained in former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report. Zondo says that the terms of reference for his inquiry are "extensive".

- Business Day