South African State Capture: A Political Maneuvering or an Economic Contestation?

Abstract

This article does not defend any corruption or nepotism acts by the actors in the process of state capture but argues that the state capture report and exposure of corruption related to the Gupta family and former President Jacob Zuma were less motivated by arresting corruption. Instead, it was more about monopolisation and competition in State-Owned Entities (SOEs). President Zuma’s tenure was marked by the advent of Radical Economic Transformation (RET) policies. The RET policies meant replacing white-owned businesses in the SOEs with historically disadvantaged black entrepreneurs. Hence, the authors argue that the narrative around state capture was exaggerated by mainstream media, and this article explores various events that led to the exaggeration between the Guptas and white monopoly capital in SOEs. The article employs a Marxist perspective of the state to unpack the relationship between government officials and businesses that sought to exaggerate the state capture narrative in South Africa. Three SOEs, namely South African Airways (SAA), Eskom, and the mining industry, are utilised as test cases to showcase the exaggeration by those in competition to monopolise the economy.