Answer to Question #313368 in English for Thamsanqa

Question

The notion of “state capture”, for instance, has been given a strange perception,

especially in the last few years in South Africa.

Answer 1

State capture is a type of systemic political corruption in which private interests significantly influence a state's decision-making processes to their own advantage. In recent times the concept of state capture has become very popular in the political and economic arena of South Africa. It was particularly the close affiliation between the President of South Africa, President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family that stirred up great concern about the South African state facing a possible state capture. Many analysts, however, argue that the notion

of state capture has long been part of the dealings of the ruling party, the African National

Congress (ANC), but has been concealed by the fact that the South African state has not been

regarded as a failed or failing state. This is primarily because the ANC government is still able to

exercise full administrative control, maintain some degree of peace and is able to consistently

provide public goods to its citizenry.

State capture undermines the efficiency of the state, especially where there is a direct relationship between state capture and corruption which has given rise to what is currently happening in South Africa. This primarily happens when a state is paying more than it is supposed to for outsourced goods and services like South Africa. State capture also undermines the efficiency of the state. This happens through poor quality services and public goods being delivered by patronage networks but less than capable service providers, through fiscal resources being redirected away from public goods provision for the poor or from value-adding economic endowments towards servicing some or other patronage network; and by weakening state capacity through appointing pliable but less than capable people in key positions, especially in finance procurement and political bearers.