Nhlanhla Nene’s dismissal fuelled speculation that the President’s prerogative of appointing and removing ministers is usurped by the Gupta brothers. However, mounting pressure compelled the President to replace Des van Rooyen with Pravin Gordhan. On national television, then Deputy Minister of Finance, Mcebisi Jonas, said the Gupta brothers, who are not only friends of the President but also business partners of his son, had allegedly offered him the position of Minister of Finance before the then incumbent, Nhlanhla Nene, was dismissed on 09 December 2015 and replaced by Des van Rooyen. The phenomenon of state capture was identified at the dawn of the new millennium (Hellman, Jones & Kaufmann 2000a) as an aberration in governance, but gained topicality in South African political discourse in March 2016. The article contributes to existing knowledge by not only clarifying a concept conflated with corruption but also analysing the manifestations of state capture in South Africa.
Methodology-wise, a combination of literature study and current research reports is used to illuminate the phenomenon and its manifestation. Secondly, the article explores state capture in contemporary South Africa. The research question addressed in this article is: What is state capture and how is it manifested in South Africa? Firstly, it systematically unpacks the phenomenon as a type of business–state relationship distinct from influence, corruption and lobbying and outlines its types, features and essence. The literature indicates that state capture lacks analytical clarity as there is no clear demarcation between legitimate political lobbying and state capture created by corruption. ‘Nenegate’ revealed poor understanding of state capture among politicians and the general public.
State capture became topical in South Africa in March 2016 following the dismissal of the then Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene, on 09 December 2015. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution,Īnd reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Theoretical analysis of state capture and its manifestation as a governance problem in South Africa Dassah, M.O., 2018, ‘Theoretical analysis of state capture and its manifestation as a governance problem in South Africa ’, The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa 14(1), a473.
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