South Africa has achieved a positive turnaround in its battle against state capture corruption, recovering nearly R11 billion in stolen public funds while implementing sweeping reforms to prevent future institutional abuse.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s latest progress report, released on Monday, shows how recommendations from the State Capture Commission – led by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo – are translating into concrete results across the country’s courts and government departments.
The financial recovery efforts have exceeded all expectations, said the Presidency. From just R2.9 billion recovered in October 2022, the total has surged to nearly R11 billion today. The Special Investigating Unit alone has clawed back R2.9 billion, while the Asset Forfeiture Unit secured an impressive R8 billion.
Corporate giants have been forced to pay substantial settlements for their roles in state capture with billions of rands already recovered and another R10.6 billion worth of assets currently under restraint orders, and more recoveries expected.
The Zondo Commission’s emphasis on accountability is bearing fruit in courtrooms nationwide. Four state capture cases have already concluded with guilty verdicts, while prosecutors are actively pursuing 218 criminal investigations through an Integrated Task Force led by the National Prosecuting Authority.
By March 2025, 21% of these cases were either finalised or enrolled for trial. High-profile cases scheduled for 2025-2026 include the Free State Asbestos Removal scandal, SA Express matters, Bosasa-related prosecutions, and Transnet contract investigations.
Beyond recovering stolen money, government has implemented the structural changes the Zondo Commission identified as essential to prevent future state capture incidents.
The Public Procurement Act of 2024 represents perhaps the most significant reform, consolidating South Africa’s fragmented procurement systems into a single, transparent regulatory framework. This addresses one of the key vulnerabilities that enabled state capture in the first place.
Intelligence services underwent major restructuring in March 2025. The controversial State Security Agency was disbanded and replaced with two separate entities – the South African Intelligence Service for foreign operations and the South African Intelligence Agency for domestic intelligence.
Anti-money laundering systems received a comprehensive overhaul, resulting in a 40% increase in compliance between 2023 and 2024. The Financial Action Task Force’s previous concerns about South Africa’s deficiencies have been systematically addressed.
Public service professionalisation has accelerated, with 138 departments now conducting mandatory lifestyle audits for senior officials and supply chain personnel by 2024.
Parliament has enacted critical legislation targeting state capture vulnerabilities, including laws that criminalise political party donations in expectation of contracts and introduce corporate liability for failing to prevent corruption.
Despite the impressive progress, President Ramaphosa acknowledged that substantial work remains. Of the 60 actions identified in the government’s October 2022 Response Plan, 23% are on track while 29% face delays but are receiving attention.
The coming year will focus on accelerating high-profile prosecutions and bringing new cases to court. Government plans to finalise the Whistleblower Protection Bill and complete reforms to state-owned enterprise governance.
“We have recovered nearly R11 billion in stolen public funds, strengthened our law enforcement capacity and implemented comprehensive reforms across government,” President Ramaphosa emphasised. “However, our work is far from complete.”
The President stressed that these reforms’ ultimate success will be measured by their ability to prevent future state capture incidents and restore public confidence in state institutions that were severely damaged during the state capture era.
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