South Africa’s state capture commission nears its end after four years. Was it worth it?

SOUTH Africa’s judicial commission into state capture, known as the Zondo Commission, recently handed over the fourth part of its voluminous and scathing findings to President Cyril Ramaphosa. As a fact-finding commission, it had to determine if there were facts that were relevant for prosecutorial purposes related to “state capture” and corruption during the reign of former president Jacob Zuma.

The commission was recommended by the former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in November 2016 to complete her “State of Capture” report. Now at the end of its four-year long investigation, how can the commission be assessed?

For years many of the leading figures in “state capture” tried to vilify investigative journalists, NGOs and researchers who exposed their actions. It was, therefore, a contested terrain. The Zondo Commission, however, followed procedures of formal investigations, leading evidence, interrogating the almost 300 witnesses and allowing for responses by the those implicated.

Cross-examination was used to test the evidence. All of this was done