Criminal network taking power in SA: Academics
A report by academics into state capture is warning that a criminal network is assuming power in South Africa.
The Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) released results of its study on what it calls the country's emerging shadow state.
The report states that a silent coup has taken place, and that the ANC cannot claim to be the primary force of transformation.
Professor Mzukisi Qobo says just because a country is in a democracy, it doesn't mean it cannot be infiltrated by shadowy networks.
"At the top you have a controller, essentially President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family, and then below that is a layer of elites like Ace Magashule, Faith Muthambi, Malusi Gigaba, Brian Molefe..." he says.
Proffesor Ivor Chipkin says power is shifting away from government and cabinet, to so-called kitchen cabinets in various locations, including Saxonwold.
"Power is shifting away from government. Shifting away from parliament and cabinet, into these dispersed - what we call kitchen cabinets - located in inter-ministerial committees, the intelligence network of South Africa and Saxonworld," he says.
Chipkin adds that South Africans need to recognise that these power shifts are driven by a political conviction
"We are seeing a criminal network take power in the context of a conviction that radical economic transformation is unachievable within the framework of South Africa's constitution," he says.