Inequality, Marikana and state capture
Under President Jacob Zuma, private interests capture state institutions, while police kill 34 striking miners at Marikana and the country remains the most unequal on earth.
- Report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State — Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture (chair: Raymond Zondo) (2022)
- Marikana Commission of Inquiry: Report on Matters of Public, National and International Concern Arising out of the Tragic Incidents at the Lonmin Mine in Marikana — Marikana Commission of Inquiry (chair: Ian Farlam) (2015)
- Inequality in Southern Africa: An Assessment of the Southern African Customs Union — World Bank (2022)
- South Africa — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Democracy brought real gains: millions of new houses, electricity and water connections, social grants that reach a large share of households, and a growing Black middle class. But the economy never created enough jobs; roughly a third of the workforce is officially unemployed, far more among the young, and the World Bank has ranked South Africa the most unequal country in the world, with wealth still largely following apartheid’s racial lines.
- Inequality in Southern Africa: An Assessment of the Southern African Customs Union — World Bank (2022)
- South Africa — Encyclopaedia Britannica
On 16 August 2012, at the Lonmin platinum mine at Marikana, police opened fire on striking mineworkers, killing 34; ten others, including police officers, had died in the days before. It was the deadliest police action since apartheid. The Farlam Commission criticised the police, Lonmin and the unions, but no one has been convicted for the shootings.
- Marikana Commission of Inquiry: Report on Matters of Public, National and International Concern Arising out of the Tragic Incidents at the Lonmin Mine in Marikana — Marikana Commission of Inquiry (chair: Ian Farlam) (2015)
During Jacob Zuma’s presidency (2009–2018), allegations grew that the Gupta business family and others were influencing ministerial appointments and winning state contracts. The Public Protector’s 2016 report, “State of Capture”, led to the Zondo Commission, whose reports (2022) detailed systematic looting of state-owned enterprises such as the power utility Eskom, whose decline brought years of rolling blackouts known as “load-shedding”. Zuma was forced out by his own party in 2018, and in 2021 his jailing for contempt of court set off riots and looting in which more than 300 people died.
- Report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State — Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture (chair: Raymond Zondo) (2022)
- South Africa — Encyclopaedia Britannica
A connected elite, including the Gupta family and senior ANC figures, looted state firms such as Eskom and Transnet; the party put loyalty above competence, and the poor paid the price.
- Report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State — Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture (chair: Raymond Zondo) (2022)
Zuma's supporters say he was the victim of a political and media campaign by those opposed to "radical economic transformation", and that white-owned capital, not the ANC, is the true obstacle to Black prosperity.
- South Africa — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Why it matters today
State capture is why many South Africans speak of a "lost decade": collapsing state companies, power cuts, unemployment, and deep distrust of politicians. Yet the courts, journalists, the Public Protector and the Zondo Commission exposed it, which many see as proof that the democracy built in 1994 still has teeth. Anger at inequality fuels the country's politics and its frequent protests.