State Capture Research Articles

Farming support must switch to black smallholders: Focus on urban elite amounts to rural State Capture

Job creation in South Africa is an urgent and paramount project and one of the target areas has to be the agricultural sector. Other targeted economic sectors can deliver jobs for urban matriculants and graduates, but JOHN MATISONN argues farming and agro-processing have the potential to provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs for black citizens in rural areas without advanced education as well as for graduates.

Between Commissions of Enquiry and Direct Prosecution: Quo Vadis, South Africa?

South Africa has had its fair share of allegations of corrupt activities within the public sector. Consequently, numerous commissions of enquiries have been established to investigate matters of public interest. The most recent is the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State (hereinafter the “Zondo Commission”) established in 2018 with investigative powers. R1 billion later, the Commission completed and compiled its findings in 2022/23 which contained a plethora of evidence. Despite the enormous evidence gathered by the Commission as with other Commissions before it, prosecution and conviction have been minimal. However, some of the Commission’s findings have been challenged or subjected to judicial review. The huge costs of these commissions, the sluggish nature of prosecution and convictions, and the high ratio of challenges to their findings invite the question of their effectiveness and necessity. Against this backdrop, the article argues that the government needs to redirect the resources it invests in these commissions of enquiry into strengthening the existing investigating institutions and the prosecuting authority. It is argued that the ultimate effect of any investigation into any wrongdoing should be the vindication of those who have been wronged and the restoration of what has been lost. This can be best achieved when the country has a capacitated prosecuting authority, that can thoroughly investigate and an independent judiciary which is the ultimate guardian of South Africa’s constitutional democracy. It is hoped that this paper will contribute to the advocacy for the strengthening of institutions that are designed to uphold the rule of law in South Africa.

South Africa's Persistent Social ills Post-1994 and the Deterioration of the African National Congress (ANC): Is the Country Heading towards a Failing State?

This article investigates the increasing and continuous social ills that millions of South African individuals have faced since the ushering of a democratic government in 1994. It claims that the African National Congress (ANC) is yearly losing its grip on its power to run the country and alter the current development hurdles. This is against growing dissatisfaction with the ruling party of poor service delivery, corruption, state capture, and maladministration, among other dynamics. Post-1994, the realities of changing society and putting in place the bold development aspirations of a newly democratic country put more spotlight on the institutions and fiscal arrangements that could, mindful of ecological constrictions and economic ambitions, deliver much-needed essential services to people experiencing poverty. However, lessons from this are that irrespective of some achievements; the country has continued to witness significant challenges, particularly the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty, and inequality in an era where the ANC continues to lose power and grip in many municipalities. However, it is argued in this article that the ANC might not necessarily lose control in the next decade, nor will South Africa become a failed state. Nevertheless, it will face the uncertainty of more fighting and losing more grip as parties such as the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) gain more political ground yearly. The article is based on a qualitative research approach through secondary data sources, including journal articles, books, chapters in books, credible newspapers, and online sources.

Textual Criticism, Literary Criticism, and State Capture: Returning 3 Reigns 12:24p–t to the Canon of Local African Communities

This article begins by considering the relationship between textual variants and the canonical text, arguing for a fuller presence of significant variant readings alongside the canonical text, in line with contemporary textual critical scholarship and their associated eclectic critical editions. Alongside such eclectic critical editions and their appropriation within Bible translation, this article suggests that a community-based approach like Contextual Bible Study could be used to return significant and relevant variants to ordinary African readers and hearers of the Bible. The article argues that LXX 3 Reigns 12:24p–t is such a significant and relevant textual variant, offering as it does a remarkable resonance with contemporary South African concerns about state capture. The article analyses 24p–t as a significant textual variant in text critical terms, as significant narrative literature in its own right, as a coherent economic narrative analysis concerning the cause of the division of the united monarchy, and as a potential resource for Contextual Bible Study work within the contemporary South African context of state capture.

Enkele Suid-Afrikaanse beplanningsvraagstukke / Some South African planning issues by Das Steÿn

South African planning issues are always a point of discussion considering the colonial and apartheid history of the country. There are different viewpoints on such planning issues, about which Steÿn writes from the position of an Afrikaner. The book is bilingual and consists of eight chapters (including introduction and reflection) on issues such as the influence of values of thinking; sound planning: wealth and poverty; confronting power to stop corruption; mercantilism and colonialism that have a grip on state capture; lessons from Afrikaners’ urbanisation and acquisition of political power, and different values to alternative approaches to the land debate in South Africa.

The macrologistics effect of a state-owned enterprise, Transnet, on the South African economy

Background: Transnet moves around 80% of South Africa’s rail-friendly freight tonne-kilometres, which drops to less than 40% if the rail-only coal and iron ore export lines are excluded.Objectives: Calculating the costs, negative externalities, and job losses caused by Transnet’s recent and historical operational issues and using the results to inform future reform possibilities.Method: Aspects contributing to Transnet’s failures are indicated through an assessment of rail freight’s decreasing market share and infrastructure investment, port ownership and inefficiency concerns, Transnet’s deteriorating financial performance, loss of critical skills, and instances of state capture. Resultant costs and their impact on employment are calculated across various freight flow segments, whereafter reform models are suggested through international benchmarking and extracting lessons from relevant global reforms.Results: The cost of Transnet’s failures are estimated as 7.43% of gross domestic product. A healthy relationship between the government and the private sector is a frequent occurrence in successful reforms seen globally. Locally, recent government reforms acknowledge a meaningful role for the private sector, which is in turn offering pragmatic and achievable solutions.Conclusion: Improved private sector participation can contribute to Transnet’s recovery. South Africa depends on this collaboration and the development of port and rail master plans to guide the infrastructure development required to meet its overall transportation needs.Contribution: Actionable implications for policy implementation, the economic regulation and horizontal separation of the freight railway, shifting freight from road to rail, the corporatisation of the port authority, and increasing port efficiency and capacity.

The correlation between state capture, grand corruption, petty corruption, and investment in Indonesia

This study aims to find the correlations between various types of corruption, namely state cap-ture, grand corruption, and petty corruption, with foreign direct investment and domestic investment in Indonesia. Using ordinary least squares method, this study analyzes data on corruption court decisions that occurred in 509 regencies from 2015 to 2019. The results reveal that, whilst domestic investment shows clear and significant correlation only with grand corruption, the foreign direct investment has definite and significant correlations with both grand and petty corruption. In addition, grand corruption has a stronger correlation with investment, especially with the foreign direct investment, in comparison to petty corrup-tion. The state capture corruption, on the other hand, shows no significant correlation to either foreign direct investment or domestic investment. These results highlight that the high level of investment in Indonesia is accompanied by an increase in the number of corruptions, especially large-scale corruption such as grand corruption.

The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance?

Corruption has been a prevalent phenomenon in South Africa for an extended period, but it was during the presidential reign of JacobZuma that corruption evolved into state capture. South African whistleblowers were instrumental in detailing the breadth and depth of state capture during Zuma’s presidency. Their disclosures brought the epidemic of state capture into the public eye, making citizens aware of the crippling of state-owned enterprises and the brazen looting of state resources. The whistleblowers, however, did notexpect the backlash they would receive from the wrongdoers and their employers. This article presents the experiences of these whistleblowers, emerging from semi-structured interviews conducted with whistleblowers and civil society, as well as documentanalysis of relevant sources. The whistleblowers’ disclosure experiences were marred by various forms of retaliation: work-related retaliation; social retaliation; physical retaliation; and a form of retaliation identified from the narratives of South African state capturewhistleblowers—retaliatory lawfare.

Political Decentralization and the Emergence of the Local State Capture: Lessons from Bengkulu, Indonesia

The local state capture phenomenon becomes very interesting if it is associated with the macro state capture framework that has begun to develop in the last two decades. A more multifaceted political approach is needed because state erosion is a political problem, not just an economic one. By referring to the political ethnographic tradition, this study describes how the complexity of relations between local economic, political, and ruling elites leads to the emergence of local state capture and the scope of its power. This study concludes that the weathering or weakening of formal government functions is not the source of the emergence of the local capture phenomenon. The growth of local state capture is more owing to the one-of-a-kind interaction between local political and economic actors and the ruling elite since the direct election of regional leaders takes place. This elite collaboration results from the emergence of a local oligarchic pole controlling local resources. The initiation of relations between the economic and political elite and the ruling elite is not only because of economic spheres but because they want to be part of the rulers' closest political circle of power.

The dark side of KIBS agency, the creative economy, and regional sustainability

This contribution develops critique from analysing forms of misconduct by knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms, especially the largest, globally located and client-interactive on all five continents. Management consultancy infractions range from supplying spurious advice, to advising clients on fraudulent practice, to acting complicitly in corrupt government practices, including engaging in ‘state capture’ by channelling internal state revenue into private holding bank accounts. Because the litany of misconduct is too massive for encompassing in a single contribution, and in the spirit of this task, the spotlight is only on a few cases that represent typical ‘creative economy’ companies contracted to ‘Big 3′ P-KIBS (Professional KIBS) corporations. Of importance to open innovation’s critical edge, the contribution articulates the puzzle of why academic KIBS research has presented the field without comment on its ‘dark’ side, questioning ‘leadership’ and ‘agency’ ‘observer’ and ‘confirmation bias’. For interpretation of data discovery, we utilise evolutionary ‘pattern recognition’ methodology set within an evolutionary theoretical framework.

When Militias capture the state: evidence from Lebanon, Iraq, and Sudan

ABSTRACT Studies on militias tend to focus on state policies, such as government collusion with militias during counterinsurgencies or post-conflict demobilization programs. This article examines militia strategies vis-à-vis the state, focusing on the case of militias engaged in ‘state capture’ – i.e. the covert and gradual penetration of state institutions aimed to shape public policy. The article provides an overview of key concepts and definitions, proposes a theoretical framework of state capture, and presents three fieldwork-based case studies: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shia militias in Iraq, and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.

Populism and State Capture: Evidence from Latin America

This paper shows that, on average, populism in power produces a decrease in state capture. However, (unconstrained) populism in power that reduces existing levels of rule of law generates greater state capture than (contained) populism that has no negative effects on rule of law. The moderating effect we theorize is that the strength of the rule of law on state capture will show decreased effects at controlling state capture when a country is populist relative to non-populist. Populist leaders may seek to rid the old corruption networks, but once they aggrandize their power and weaken the rule of law, they have incentives to establish corrupt linkages with opportunistic economic elites who are willing to work with them, increasing state capture as a result. To test this theory, the paper employs a random effects model with 6 different specifications across 18 different Latin American countries, throughout the time period 1996-2017.

Crowddoing and crowdfunding democracy: Innovative strategies for countering foreign disinformation in Central and Eastern Europe

Central and Eastern Europe has become a ripe target for disinformation and malign narratives propagated by foreign actors. A deluge of propaganda deployed by hostile states is aimed at polarizing societies, undermining the decision-making capabilities of governments, and influencing public policy. Against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the stakes are enormous. Heeding research on debunking and pre-bunking strategies recognizing the limitations and potential of these approaches in inoculating populations against disinformation, this paper examines how several tactics deployed in the CEE region can both speak to and draw from this literature. While certain segments of CEE populations may be vulnerable to disinformation, the region also boasts civically engaged publics that want to take an active part in fostering societal resilience. The rise of digital elves (volunteer information warriors taking the fight to online trolls), the outsourcing of counter-disinformation activities to popular public institutions (like the police and military), and the use of crowdfunding to support news literacy education and independent media outlets present compelling alternative strategies towards responding to foreign influence. These activities show promise in overcoming obstacles faced by conventional approaches to disinformation and addressing CEE-specific issues related to media distrust and state capture of the media.

Mzansi Magic

Mzansi Magic

Political economy and structural transformation: democracy, regulation and public investment

ABSTRACT Technological progress is widely recognized as a fundamental driver of economic development and structural transformation. Nevertheless, substantial variations in productivity persist both within and across countries. While the literature on misallocation has made important progress, we still have a limited understanding of the extent to which these misallocations are driven by political factors and the actions (or inactions) of governments. This paper reviews the literature on various political distortions, including state capture, patronage, and firm-political connections, and their impacts on economic outcomes. The review emphasizes empirical research, especially in low- and middle-income countries, highlighting the need for coherent theoretical frameworks and policy interventions to address political distortions. The paper also provides suggestions for future research, aiming to advance our understanding of the complex interplay between political dynamics and structural transformation.

How Erdoğan Rules Through Crisis

Abstract: What does the enduring rule of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tell us about the resilience of authoritarian populism despite economic and governance crises? This essay argues that a key source of authoritarian resilience lies in the mutually reinforcing interaction of state capture and market capture. The AKP government not only established firm control over state institutions but also reshaped state-market relations in a way that helped the party build an extensive network that closely ties different segments of society to the state. The authors maintain that the fallout from Turkey's growing crisis of governance is not felt evenly across society and thus defies expectations that economic and governance crises necessarily result in the downfall of an authoritarian-populist regime.

The African National Congress and South Africa’s Public Service: A Crisis of Dominance and Accountability

This article explores the impact of African National Congress-led government’s dominance on South Africa’s public service. On onehand, the African National Congress since the 1994 democratic elections had many achievements in advancing South Africa’s democracy and responding to the citizens’ needs through countless development and policy initiatives that were designed to cater to the basic needs of the citizens. On the other hand, it has become less responsive to citizen needs and this is evident as citizens have taken to the streets to protest for service provisions throughout the country. Citizens’ discontent can be seen in the rapid decline of the African National Congress’ political dominance and the formation of political coalitions. South African public service delivery has been marked by a lack of public accountability, corruption, cadre deployment, state capture, and procurement system manipulation as a result of the African National Congress’s dominance since the country’s first democratic elections. It is important to note that most South African citizens depend on the public sector and the African National Congress’s dominance in the public sector has damaged its ability to be responsive to citizens’ needs. This article relied on secondary sources, by reviewing current literature on the ramifications of having one political party dominating the country’s political space for decades.

State‐society relations and industrial sustainable growth: The case of post‐Revolution Tunisia

AbstractThis paper investigates the effect of state‐society relations (SSR) in the industrial sector on the sustainable economic growth of post‐Revolution Tunisia. The empirical part of the paper depends mainly on qualitative data collected from fieldwork interviews with the most important actors and publications of civil society organizations. The paper suggests the presence of state capture as the defining characteristic of SSR in post‐Revolution Tunisia. The combination of having powerful tycoons, weaker state, and ineffectively organized social actors produced conditions that harmed sustainability. These settings allowed tycoons to violate environmental regulations and prevented Green innovation through the adoption of Green technologies. Yet, factors such as low value‐added creation, increased labor‐intensity, and low environmental awareness or prioritization all interact with state capture to lower sustainability. In those sectors where tycoons are active and dominant, competing social actors are incapable of effectively exploiting the presence of a freer political system, ultimately failing to successfully organize resisting coalitions, as evident in the textile sector. While higher resistance is witnessed where tycoons are not dominant as was the case in the phosphate sector, tycoons could still use the situation to their advantage.

Legislative Framework Governance, State Capture and Performance of South Africa’s State-Owned Enterprises

Legislative Framework Governance, State Capture and Performance of South Africa’s State-Owned Enterprises

Korupcija kao poticaj za iseljavanje iz Hrvatske

This paper represents an initial step in testing the correlation between corruption and state capture on the one side and emigration as a consequence on the other. The study is based on our qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Germany on a sample of 1734 recently emigrated Croatians from 2016 to 2020 and on our new research on corruption and clientelism as a push factor for emigration from Croatia. The primary hypothesis is that migration and corruption trends are correlated and that with the growth of the emigration of young workers from Croatia, the corruption rate in the country increases even more. The second part of the research was conducted on a sample of small, medium and large companies throughout Croatia. Requests to participate were sent to 2500 companies in all Croatian counties, and 178 companies responded. The questions intended to assess so-called “state capture” in Croatia according to a concept developed by Hellman et al. (2000). We measured the capture of the judiciary, the executive and the legislature in the Republic of Croatia and the perception of bribery, corruption and clientelism in companies. Results: nepotism 71%, bribery 66%, rigging public tenders 93% significantly disrupt business. Companies rate the Government, Parliament and the judiciary as the worst public services. As many as 59% of companies believe that the Croatian judiciary is corrupt. Among the measures that companies unconditionally support are the revision of transformation and privatisation (82%) and the examination of the origin of assets (76%). The study results undoubtedly show that Croatia is even more corrupt today (2022) than it was as a non-EU member. The opening of borders has certainly facilitated emigration from Croatia, but this paper shows that emigration would not be so intense if the state and the society were not “captured”.