The first of three volumes making findings and recommendations about state capture was officially handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa. The report put former president Jacob Zuma front and centre of the capture project saying he actively advanced the interests of the Guptas, intervening in operational matters to help them.

KwaZulu-Natal opposition parties slammed EFF leader Julius Malema for calling on the government to lift all Covid restrictions. Addressing EFF supporters in Durban Malema said the only purpose of the restrictions was to shield President Cyril Ramaphosa from his political opponents. Malema’s comments contradicted his earlier stand on the issue.

Former president Jacob Zuma continued to accuse the judiciary of being captured while he launched baseless litigation to attack the legitimacy of any process that sought to hold him accountable.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ongoing silence and lack of decisiveness on a wide variety of issues continued to be a cause of concern amongst commentators and the public at large. It almost seemed he was hoping that if he ignored a problem it would go away on its own.

The findings released in the second tranche of the Zondo Commission of Enquiry into Allegations of State Capture unleashed yet more shame on a government mired in charges of corruption. The report detailed how billions were extracted from Transnet and Denel but the themes from Zondo1 remained the same: ex-president Jacob Zuma was at the centre of it and the ANC helped the Gupta network.

President Cyril Ramaphosa called for unity against those who are “tearing the country apart” in a State of the Nation Address (SONA) that didn’t gloss over the myriad problems facing the country – the floundering economy, corruption, and the state’s incapacity to quell the July unrest chief amongst them. He accepted the government could have done better…

Replying to the debate over his recent SONA speech, President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his confidence in his beleaguered cabinet. “I preside over a Cabinet of ministers that are committed to their responsibilities, minister in whom I have the greatest confidence…” he said as heckles rose up from the opposition. His blanket of approval presumably covered Police minister Bheki Cele, one of the subjects of a damning report into the July unrest, who had just been ordered to apologise for and retract unwarranted accusations he had made against EFF leader, Julius Malema.

In what has been referred to as the “darkest hour since World War II”, Russian forces unleashed an attack on Ukraine on the orders of Vladimir Putin. The invasion sparked an international outcry with UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, urging Putin to “give peace a chance”, amidst widespread fear it could be the start of a war in Europe on Russia’s demands for an end to NATO’s eastwards expansion.