Why the Notion of " State Capture " is Complete Nonsense: An Apartheid Studies approach (original) (raw)
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State capture: Case of South Africa
2021
ISSN 2620-0406 Citation: Bester, D., & Dobovsek, B. (2021). State capture: Case of South Africa. NBP. Nauka, bezbednost, policija, 26(1), 73–87. doi:10.5937/nabepo 26-32346 Abstract: “Grand corruption” and “state capture” are two intertwined concepts of corruption that have become systemic and institutionalized in many transitional countries around the world. “State capture” can simply be defined as “the payment of bribes at high levels of government in order to extract or plunder significant amounts of money from the state”. The following paper will argue that when state capture occurs in transitional countries, it runs the risk of becoming socially embedded and institutionalized, which in turn makes it difficult to maintain the principles of democracy and threatens the overall stability of a country in transition. South Africa makes for a useful case study because it clearly represents how corruption in the form of state capture has infiltrated the political landscape of a country...
Review of “How to Steal a Country: State Capture and Hopes for the Future in South Africa”
2021
96 A Review of “How to Steal a Country: State Capture and Hopes for the Future in South Africa” Nkosingiphile Mkhize DOI: https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.48.5 Nkosingiphile Mkhize, from Johannesburg (South Africa), holds two master’s degrees; one in Political Science (research component and defence awarded a distinction) from the Masarykova Univerzita, Czech Republic. The second MA degree in Public Governance (cum laude) from the University of Johannesburg School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy. He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate with the University of Johannesburg School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy. His theses focus on integrity, ethics, corruption and anticorruption, and risk management in the South Africa public sector. The broad areas of his Ph.D. thesis focus form part of his key research interests. E-mail: nkosingiphile.e.m18@gmail.com.
Theoretical analysis of state capture and its manifestation as a governance problem in South Africa
The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa
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. ‘Nenegate’ revealed poor understanding of state capture among politicians and the general public. 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. 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. Secondly, the article explores state capture in contemporary South Africa. Methodology-wise, a combination of literature study and current research reports is used to illuminate the phenomenon and its manifestation. The article contributes to existing knowledge by...
South African State Capture: A Symbiotic Affair between Business and State Going Bad(?)
Insight on Africa, 2017
Since March 2016, the subject of South African state capture has received much attention from the political, business and scholarly community in the country and beyond. The vibrancy of this public and scholarly discourse was reignited by the claims by some politicians from the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), that in the recent past, they were approached by the Gupta family (business moguls) for consideration in ministerial appointments. These revelations have since produced a dominant perception that the Gupta family wields an undue influence over the President of the Republic and by extension, the entire state machinery. This extends to the family and friends as well. While the Guptas 'capture' the state, ministers and premiers are not directly accountable to them by protocol, but only to the President as a constitutional prerogative to do so. The view on state capture is not uniformly accepted. One notes the discourse is dominated by Euro-American perspectives, purporting to create a misunderstanding of the current trajectory of business-state relations in South Africa. As a theoretical framework, Afrocentricity is adopted and used in this article to answer the following two central questions: (i) Is it a myth or reality that the Gupta family has captured the South African state? (ii) At which point should corporate influence in state affairs be considered as illegal? Methodologically, this is achieved through thematic content analysis on conversations and the prevailing discourses circulating within South Africa.
Buffalo Law Review, 2019
Post-conflict or post-colonial constitutions are increasingly understood to be "transformative" constitutions. While initially a term used to describe South Africa's postapartheid constitutional order, the idea of a transformative constitution may be best described as the adoption of a constitutional order which is expected to "transform" the existing pre-constitutional order. To this extent, these constitutions are aspirational and are meant to empower the newly democratized state to make significant changes to the existing social and economic order. This perceived need for a powerful state, to overcome the legacies of conflict and the social conditions that divided the society, is in direct tension with the liberal constitutional notion of limited government. While constitutions establish and empower government, constitutionalism is thought to ensure that government continues to represent and respect the rights of the people in whose name most constitutions...
African Economic History, 2024
The right of conquest is a doctrine in the theory of international law in terms of which victory in war entitles the victor both to the title to territory of the vanquished as well as sovereignty over them. Far from being a mere event, however, conquest is an ongoing process, structure, and relation of domination. Despite the widely celebrated “transition to democracy” and the supposed triumph of popular sovereignty in South Africa in the past three decades, we argue that South Africa’s “democratic” constitutional order remains firmly rooted in the dubious right of conquest asserted since the defeat of its indigenous people in the unjust wars of Western colonization, which began in the mid-seventeenth century. In this article we critically reflect on South African historiography by asking “Who conquered South Africa”? The question is necessary because sovereign power is both misunderstood and obfuscated in South African contemporary history and public discourse. We argue that conquest, and its attendant concepts of sovereignty and war, are deliberately underemphasized in South African historiography despite being at the root of problems regarding economic sovereignty. Our argument considers the problem of succession to conquest, in terms of which both the title to territory and sovereignty over the conquered is transferred from the conqueror to another party who then enjoys these entitlements and powers. We trace various successors in title to Conquest South Africa, and show that their economic power originates in the right of conquest. Their ownership of South Africa’s natural resources originates in the title to territory acquired through its disseisin following the conquest of the indigenous people, and in the same way their continued de facto sovereignty over that population now takes the form of the wanton and relentless exploitation of their labor power.
State Capture in South Africa and Canada: A Comparative Analysis
Public Integrity, 2022
ABSTRACT Corruption in all its forms, from bribery to influence and distortion of oversight, accountability and justice systems, in order to protect the criminal behavior of functionaries (public officials and political officials) is a global phenomenon. Corruption as a phenomenon is found in well-established democracies such as Canada, and is often endemic in young democracies such as South Africa, who fall into a cycle of political corruption and administrative accountability avoidance. What are the cross-cutting risk factors and mitigation factors that shape the functionality of anti-corruption mechanisms? This comparative analysis of corruption and state capture provides insight into the functionality of oversight, anti-corruption and accountability mechanisms in both countries. Findings indicate that both Canada and South Africa are at risk of the erosion of safeguards and at risk of the deterioration of levels of vigilance required to prevent state capture