After Capture: Notes on the current situation and some thoughts for democratising the future

The author argues that the Jacob Zuma administration transitioned toward tyranny by systematically undermining the South African Constitution and rule of law to facilitate 'Radical Economic Transformation'. This project involved 'institutional capture' of the SABC and the weakening of state bodies like the National Treasury, SARS, and the Hawks to enable corruption and the creation of a 'shadow state' influenced by the Gupta family. In response, a rejuvenated civil society—comprising diverse coalitions of trade unions, churches, and business formations—emerged, utilizing litigation, social mobilization, and reports like 'The Betrayal of the Promise' to challenge state capture and defend public administration.

• The Jacob Zuma administration pursued a project of 'Radical Economic Transformation' that sought to use the procurement budgets of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), specifically Eskom and Transnet, to displace white firms and establish black-owned industrial enterprises.
• The National Treasury became a primary target of the Zuma administration because its constitutional mandate to ensure procurement was 'fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective' conflicted with demands to set aside 30% of contracts for black companies regardless of capacity or price.
• The administration engaged in 'institutional capture' of the South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC) by appointing Hlaudi Motsoeneng, who illegally changed policies to remove editorial discretion from journalists and prohibit news critical of the government.
• To protect the project of Radical Economic Transformation and immunize key figures from prosecution, the Zuma administration 'captured' and weakened state institutions including the South African Revenue Services (SARS), the Hawks, and the National Prosecuting Agency.
• The 'Betrayal of the Promise' report helped galvanize opposition to state capture by providing a new analytical vocabulary—including terms like 'shadow state' and 'silent coup'—which shifted the discourse from simple corruption to a systemic attack on the constitution.
• The political fallout from the 'Betrayal of the Promise' report contributed to an unprecedented rupture in the 'Tripartite Alliance', leading the South African Communist Party (SACP) to contest a local government election as an independent party against the ANC in November 2017.
• Civil society responded to state capture through four primary tactics: litigation in High Courts to challenge illegal appointments, social mobilization of diverse publics, political mobilization of ANC figures, and 'unsettling hegemony' by challenging the government's narrative of radical change.

APA

Chipkin, I. (n.d.). After Capture: Notes on the current situation and some thoughts for democratising the future. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/20180207_AfterCapture_ConferencePaper_NelsonMandelaInitiative-ver1.0.pdf

Chicago

Chipkin, Ivor. After Capture: Notes on the current situation and some thoughts for democratising the future. Public Affairs Research Institute, n.d. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/20180207_AfterCapture_ConferencePaper_NelsonMandelaInitiative-ver1.0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chipkin |first1=Ivor |title=After Capture: Notes on the current situation and some thoughts for democratising the future |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/20180207_AfterCapture_ConferencePaper_NelsonMandelaInitiative-ver1.0.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chipkinndafter, author = {Chipkin, Ivor}, title = {{After Capture: Notes on the current situation and some thoughts for democratising the future}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/20180207_AfterCapture_ConferencePaper_NelsonMandelaInitiative-ver1.0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }