Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane recently announced a preliminary probe into state capture following leaked Gupta emails . According to her, a preliminary probe is a condition precedent to whether a full scale investigation will take place, if at all.
The emails implicate government officials, state entities, and Gupta-controlled companies for crimes ranging from corruption, fraud, theft, racketeering to money laundering.
The ANC has welcomed the Public Protector's preliminary probe, because failing to do so will undermine "the integrity and credibility of our government and state". Hypocritical hogwash indeed! The ANC has for years turned a blind eye to ANC government officials waltzing in bed with the Guptas.
If the ANC was genuinely concerned with restoring credibility in government, it would align with those demanding the Hawks and the NPA do their jobs by vigorously investigating and prosecuting those who unlawfully enriched themselves to the detriment of the nation.
The Gupta emails are a criminal investigator's dream as they are the smoking gun of incontrovertible incriminating evidence of egregious criminal conduct.
Why then the ploy for a public protector's probe? Simply to kick the can down a long road to nowhere to immunize those implicated from criminal prosecution. As Yankees baseball legend Yogi Berra would say "It's deja vu [in South Africa] all over again!"
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