State Capture and its Aftermath: Building responsiveness through state reform

The document outlines the proceedings of a three-day conference focused on the causes, mechanisms, and aftermath of state capture in South Africa. It examines the role of apartheid legacies, the influence of the private sector, the vulnerability of state-owned enterprises, and the failure of oversight institutions. The report emphasizes that state capture is a politico-economic project involving both formal and informal power, often facilitated by the politicization of the bureaucracy and the erosion of the criminal justice system. It argues for comprehensive state reform, including electoral changes, transparency in party funding, and the protection of whistleblowers, while drawing comparisons with state capture in Nigeria, Kenya, and Angola.

• State capture in South Africa is characterized by a specific pattern where a faction controls the political party, decisions are centralized in the party office, the bureaucracy is politicized, and the supply chain process is controlled to seize rents.
• The legacy of the apartheid era persists in the post-1994 period through continued secrecy, authoritarianism, and the survival of certain apartheid-era laws.
• State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are primary targets for corrupt networks due to their high capital expenditure and investment needs; for example, Transnet was involved in locomotive contracts with Chinese companies resulting in R 43.5 billion in payouts, including significant kickbacks.
• The criminal justice system has been severely undermined by political appointments, leading to a collapse in crime intelligence and a low conviction rate for corruption; in 2016/17, only 18% of cases opened under the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act (PRECCA) resulted in convictions.
• The private sector, including auditing firms and law companies, has facilitated state capture through conflicts of interest, lack of transparency, and the use of shell companies to channel resources.
• Traditional leadership in South Africa has sometimes been used as a front for corruption and state capture, with chiefs extracting rent due to a lack of accountability and financial record-keeping.
• Security structures in South Africa have been influenced by a 'warrior culture' of unquestioning obedience, allowing the security apparatus to be used to protect corrupt regime members and sidestep parliamentary oversight.
• Comparative analysis shows that state capture is a widespread issue in the global South, with Nigeria experiencing a 'selfie state' where the state engineers its own capture, and Angola seeing the diversion of hundreds of millions of dollars from its national oil company.
• Whistleblowers are essential for exposing state capture but face severe risks, including the weaponization of anti-corruption processes and the 'chilling effect' of laws that criminalize false disclosures.
• The South African Parliament is identified as a 'key enabler of state capture' due to its failure to provide effective oversight of the executive.

APA

Public Affairs Research Institute (2018). State Capture and its Aftermath: Building responsiveness through state reform. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/State-Capture-and-its-Aftermath-report.pdf

Chicago

Public Affairs Research Institute. State Capture and its Aftermath: Building responsiveness through state reform. 2018. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/State-Capture-and-its-Aftermath-report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Public Affairs Research Institute |title=State Capture and its Aftermath: Building responsiveness through state reform |date=2018 |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/State-Capture-and-its-Aftermath-report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{publicaffairsresearchinstitute2018state, author = {{Public Affairs Research Institute}}, title = {{State Capture and its Aftermath: Building responsiveness through state reform}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2018}, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/State-Capture-and-its-Aftermath-report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }