The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, chaired by Raymond Zondo, was set up in January 2018 following remedial action in the Public Protector's 2016 State of Capture report. It held 429 days of hearings and delivered a six-part report in 2022 that concluded state capture had been established. Prosecutions that followed have moved slowly, with one case discharged and later reinstated on appeal and another struck off the roll.
The commission's work ended with its final report in June 2022. In the cases that followed, the Gauteng High Court reserved judgment until 26 November 2026 on the Transnet accused's bid to have their case struck off the roll for delay, the Nulane case was re-enrolled in June 2026, and the Free State asbestos case returns to court on 18 January 2027.
The Public Protector released the State of Capture report on 2 November 2016, according to the Presidency. Its remedial action called for a commission of inquiry to be appointed, which the Constitutional Court later described as the basis for the commission.
The commission's terms of reference cite an order of the North Gauteng High Court of 14 December 2017 in case 91139/2016, according to the Constitutional Court's January 2021 judgment.
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State was established under section 84(2)(f) of the Constitution by Proclamation No. 3 of 2018, published on 25 January 2018. Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo was appointed chair on the Chief Justice's recommendation.
Then President Jacob Zuma signed the commission's regulations on 9 February 2018, and a government notice of the same day extended the Commissions Act to the commission, giving it powers such as issuing summonses, the Constitutional Court said.
The commission held its first public hearing in August 2018, according to the Presidency's 2023 progress report. Over the following three years it sat for 429 days and heard more than 300 witnesses, the report said.
Zuma appeared before the commission on 15 July 2019 and gave evidence for two and a half days before declining to answer further questions, the Constitutional Court recorded. An agreement for his continued participation was reached on 19 July 2019.
Zuma returned under summons on 16 November 2020 and his counsel asked Zondo to recuse himself. Zondo dismissed the application on 19 November and Zuma left during an adjournment that day without being excused, according to the Constitutional Court.
On the commission's application, the Constitutional Court unanimously ordered Zuma to obey all summonses and directives lawfully issued by the commission and to appear and give evidence on dates it set.
Zuma did not attend the commission on 15 to 19 February 2021, the dates set in his summons, according to the Constitutional Court's later contempt judgment.
President Cyril Ramaphosa began four days of testimony before the commission on 28 April 2021, Daily Maverick reported. He said the vast majority of ANC leaders and members opposed corruption.
Daily MaverickA majority of the Constitutional Court found Zuma guilty of contempt for failing to comply with its January 2021 order and sentenced him to 15 months' imprisonment. The case has its own timeline on this site.
A former head of department in the Free State was sentenced in November 2021 to 10 years' imprisonment, wholly suspended, after pleading guilty in the Free State housing matter, the Presidency's 2023 progress report said. The report lists it among cases linked to the commission's work.
The commission held its final hearing in December 2021 after eight extensions of its term, according to the Presidency's progress report.
Zondo handed the first part of the report to Ramaphosa on 4 January 2022, according to the Presidency. Reuters reported that it dealt with South African Airways and related entities, a Gupta-controlled media company, the revenue service and public procurement.
The second part of the report was handed over on 1 February 2022, according to the Presidency's progress report.
The third part of the report was handed over on 1 March 2022, according to the Presidency's progress report.
The commission's secretary handed the fourth part, in four volumes, to the Presidency at the Union Buildings on 29 April 2022, Engineering News reported. It covered the National Treasury, EOH, the City of Johannesburg, Alexkor, the Free State asbestos and housing projects, and Eskom.
Dubai police arrested Atul and Rajesh Gupta in June 2022, The National reported. South Africa sought their extradition on fraud, corruption and money laundering charges. The brothers deny wrongdoing and call the charges a political witch hunt, the outlet said.
Zondo, by then Chief Justice, presented Parts 5 and 6 to Ramaphosa on 22 June 2022, according to Parliament. They covered the State Security Agency, the SABC, the Vrede dairy project, parliamentary oversight, the ANC and the evidence of the President, Daily Maverick reported. VOA reported that earlier parts had recommended that Zuma be investigated further with a view to prosecution, and that the report criticised Ramaphosa, as Zuma's deputy, for not doing more. Zuma denies wrongdoing.
Dudu Myeni pleaded guilty in July 2022 to obstruction of justice for disclosing the identity of a protected commission witness and was fined R120,000 or two years' imprisonment, half suspended, according to the Presidency's progress report.
Ramaphosa submitted a 76-page response to the commission's findings and recommendations, as required by a Gauteng High Court ruling of 23 February 2022, the Presidency said. It set out actions against those implicated, reforms to prevent state capture and wider systemic changes.
The UAE Ministry of Justice said the Dubai Court of Appeal had declined South Africa's request to extradite Atul and Rajesh Gupta because the documents did not meet the extradition agreement, The National reported. It said cancelled arrest warrants had been submitted for the fraud charge and none for the corruption charge.
Acting Judge Nompumelelo Gusha of the Free State High Court discharged all the accused in the Nulane case, including Iqbal Sharma, Nulane Investment and former Free State agriculture officials, under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, according to the NPA. The case concerned a Free State Department of Agriculture contract.
The Presidency's November 2023 progress report said nine cases linked to the commission were in court, involving 47 people and 21 companies, and two had been finalised with guilty verdicts. It said the commission estimated R57 billion of state money was tainted by state capture.
Judge Celeste Reinders of the Free State High Court struck the Estina dairy case off the roll for unreasonable delay, Daily Maverick reported. The accused, including former minister Mosebenzi Zwane and Gupta associates, faced fraud, corruption and money laundering charges over the R280 million project. The Investigating Directorate said it would seek to reinstate the case.
On 12 June 2025 the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption's appeal against the 2023 discharge in the Nulane case and ordered that the accused may be tried before a different judge, the NPA and Daily Maverick reported.
Former Transnet chief executives Brian Molefe and Siyabonga Gama handed themselves over to the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption and were granted bail of R50,000 each in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on fraud, corruption and money laundering charges linked to locomotive procurement, Daily Maverick reported. The commission had recommended their prosecution, the outlet said.
Daily MaverickFormer public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court as the fifth accused in the Transnet case, The Citizen reported. The state alleges he accepted undisclosed cash from members of the Gupta family. His office said he maintains his innocence.
The CitizenThe NPA said the case against Gigaba, Singh, Molefe, Gama and Jiyane had been transferred to the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg. It said the indictment concerned three contracts for 95, 100 and 1,064 locomotives that it alleges were irregularly awarded.
The Constitutional Court dismissed the appeals of the Nulane accused against the Supreme Court of Appeal ruling, the NPA said, allowing the prosecution to proceed once the case was re-enrolled.
The Nulane case was re-enrolled in the Bloemfontein magistrate's court, OFM and the Sunday Times reported. It was postponed to 22 September 2026 for disclosure of the docket, OFM said. No trial date had been reported.
Judge Phillip Loubser of the Free State High Court postponed the R255 million asbestos case against Ace Magashule and 17 other accused people and companies to 18 January 2027, OFM reported. The trial has not started. Magashule denies wrongdoing and says the prosecution is politically motivated.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg heard the accused's application under section 342A of the Criminal Procedure Act to strike the Transnet case off the roll for unreasonable delay, and reserved judgment until 26 November 2026, EWN reported. The state opposed the application. The trial had been scheduled for February 2026 but had not started.
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EWN · ewn.co.za Daily Maverick · dailymaverick.co.za EWN · ewn.co.zaLast updated 1 November 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.