Inside Story

South Africa: What will the fallout be from fraud inquiry?

A judicial investigation into alleged government corruption in South Africa has begun.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed a crackdown on government corruption. And he could end up implicating members of his own African National Congress (ANC) party.

A judicial inquiry into alleged corruption at the top levels of government opened on Monday, but it doesn’t have powers to arrest anybody or seize assets.

It will examine claims of fraud in the public sector during former President Jacob Zuma‘s time in office. Zuma was accused of being under the influence of the wealthy Gupta family.

Billions of dollars of state funds were allegedly stolen using corrupt practices.

But how far can the investigation go?

Presenter: Hoda Abdel-Hamid

Guests:

Ivor Sarakinsky – academic director at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Governance

Sanusha Naidu – researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue

Karyn Maughan – journalist and legal analyst