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Johannesburg – Former President FW de Klerk’s Foundation, Centre for Constitutional Rights and the Centre for Unity in Diversity have all weighed in on The Betrayal of the Promise report, saying it revealed "a toxic cocktail of patronage".
In a joint statement, the organisations expressed concern over the damning report released by academics and a seasoned investigative reporter on Thursday. The report revealed that there was a silent coup taking place in South Africa.
Executive director of the FW de Klerk’s Foundation, Theuns Eloff, said the report The Betrayal of the Promise: How South Africa is being Stolen, provided factual information and drew linkages between a powerful political elite and business individuals.
"It reveals a toxic cocktail of patronage and corruption, all the while seriously undermining the constitutional state. Its biggest takeaway is that State institutions are being re-purposed to the detriment of all South Africans."
Eloff said the report followed hot on the heels of another report released last week by the South African Council of Churches.
"This also follows the 2016 report into allegations of state capture, in which the erstwhile Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, recommended that the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court appoint a judge to preside over a commission of inquiry, to further probe the allegations.
"In response to this, the president, whose name features quite prominently in the report, filed an application to review the State of Capture report before the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. One of the grounds for review that he raises is the fact that in terms of section 84(f) of the Constitution, he is the only person who can appoint commissions of inquiry."
Eloff questioned: "What happens when the president is so conflicted that his appointing a commission of inquiry into his own conduct would elicit, rightly so, accusations of in-built bias?
"Should this conundrum suggest then, that it is impossible for there ever to be a commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by a president?"
