State Capture Commission Recommendations Update 2025

The document evaluates the South African government's response to the Zondo Commission's recommendations across seven themes: criminal justice, public procurement, public administration, corporate accountability, state-owned enterprises, parliamentary oversight, and whistleblowing. While noting some legislative progress, such as the Public Procurement Act of 2024 and the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Act of 2025, it highlights significant delays in reforming the appointment processes for the National Director of Public Prosecutions and the SARS Commissioner. The brief argues that reforms have been 'positive but halting' and often fail to address the deep structural issues of patronage and political interference that enabled state capture.

• As of July 2025, the Presidency reports that 48% of government commitments to the State Capture Commission (SCC) recommendations have been fully or substantially implemented, 23% are on track, and 29% are delayed or require attention.
• Reform of the criminal justice system is described as 'stuttering and incomplete'. While the NPA Amendment Act of 2024 established the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption as a permanent entity, the government has failed to implement promised legislative reforms for the appointment of the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) and the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) three years after the initial commitment.
• The Public Procurement Act (PPA) of July 2024 introduces several integrity measures, including the creation of the Public Procurement Office (PPO), prohibitions on public office bearers doing business with the state, and requirements for proactive disclosure of beneficial ownership on a central portal. However, the brief notes that critical policy decisions are deferred to unpublished regulations and the state lacks an integrated electronic system for procurement data.
• Efforts to depoliticise public administration are partially implemented through the Public Service Amendment Bill and the PSC Bill. The Public Service Amendment Bill aims to transfer operational authority to senior administrators and prohibit heads of department from holding political office, but it does not fully implement the 'Head of the Presidency' role as originally proposed.
• In corporate accountability, the Companies Second Amendment Act (late 2024) and the Judicial Matters Amendment Act (2024) have addressed delinquent directors and the failure to prevent bribery. While a beneficial ownership register was created in 2022, the brief argues it should be open to the public rather than limited to government use to be effective.
• The National State Enterprises Bill proposes a holding company to centralise the governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and align board appointments with SCC recommendations. However, the Bill does not specify appointment processes for SOE subsidiaries or public entities not transferred to the holding company, leading to delays in addressing governance issues.
• Parliamentary oversight reforms have been slow; the Rules Committee rejected many SCC recommendations, claiming Parliament already had sufficient powers. A positive development is the 2024 vote to establish a committee to oversee the Presidency, and the Government of National Unity has led to more opposition parties chairing committees in practice.
• Whistleblower protection remains unresolved. Despite a 2023 discussion document from the Department of Justice and a 2025 State of the Nation Address commitment to introduce a Whistleblower Protections Bill, no concrete policy commitments or draft bills have been published for public comment.

APA

Pillay, D., & Meny-Gibert, S. (2025). State Capture Commission Recommendations Update 2025. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Zondo-Update-2025-zondo-state-reform-v3.pdf

Chicago

Pillay, Devi, and Sarah Meny-Gibert. State Capture Commission Recommendations Update 2025. Public Affairs Research Institute, 2025. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Zondo-Update-2025-zondo-state-reform-v3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pillay |first1=Devi |last2=Meny-Gibert |first2=Sarah |title=State Capture Commission Recommendations Update 2025 |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |date=October 2025 |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Zondo-Update-2025-zondo-state-reform-v3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pillay2025state, author = {Pillay, Devi and Meny-Gibert, Sarah}, title = {{State Capture Commission Recommendations Update 2025}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Zondo-Update-2025-zondo-state-reform-v3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }