Zondo’s bloodhounds pick up a new scent, plus five highlights from 'Vrye Weekblad'

It was deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo’s bloodhounds who picked up the scent when a witness mentioned he’d seen an expensive Aston Martin under a tarpaulin at Nomvula Mokonyane’s house — and they made the cool-as-a-cucumber tenderpreneur Edwin Sodi sweat over a string of suspicious transactions.

These investigators are the nameless heroes responsible for every tricky question that advocates Paul Pretorius, Kate Hofmeyr, Thandi Norman and the rest of Zondo’s legal team put to squirming witnesses. Led by Terence Nombembe, the commission’s chief investigator, they stand in the shadows and prefer to follow a trail unseen.

It is these bloodhounds who spend nights wading through the close to 300,000 #GuptaLeaks e-mails, looking for watertight evidence that will compel the kingpins of state capture to account to the commission for their shenanigans.

From the other side of the Jukskei River, advocate Hermione Cronje, head of the National Prosecuting Authority’s special directorate responsible for investigating corruption, is watching matters unfold with an eagle eye. Because it is Cronje and her relatively young directorate who must ensure that all the shocking evidence presented to Zondo results in orange jumpsuits for the culprits.

SA owes a debt of gratitude to the investigators at the Zondo commission into state capture who have sniffed out the stench of corruption clinging to one crook after another, writes Yolandi Groenewald in the latest issue of Vrye Weekblad. But a new assignment now awaits as they prepare to join the NPA and lend their considerable expertise and resources to Cronje’s team.

Read the full article and more news and analysis in this week's edition of the Afrikaans digital weekly Vrye Weekblad.

Must-read articles in this week's Vrye Weekblad

>> Browse the full October 30 edition

DUDUZANE’S POLITICAL AMBITIONS | Duduzane Zuma is the Kim Kardashian of the ANC’s RET faction, writes Max du Preez about Jacob Zuma’s slippery son who this week launched his political career on the 24-hour news channel Newzroom Afrika.

FREE TO READ — REDS UNDER THE BED | “Socialism” and “taxes” are the two words guaranteed to get a reaction out of American voters, Arrie Rossouw writes as the US election heads towards D-Day.

PURPLE STREETS AND POLICE TAPE | She always knew that she would one day be the victim of an armed robbery or kidnapping, but she never expected to dress up for it, writes Michèle Meyer. Except that this was no robbery ...

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REVENGE | What gets in the way of social cohesion in SA is psychological pain and trauma posturing as rage and violence, writes the psychologist Melody Pick. South Africans need to make room for our vulnerability.

DOPBEDONNERD | The local wine industry needs clever and creative marketing to recover from the ravages of a ban on liquor sales — and these are the teams who show how it’s done.