Gigaba has some explaining to do

With the emergence of more and more dirty dealings related to the controversial Gupta family, it is hard to fathom how far and wide the tentacles of state capture actually reach. In some of the most recent information to have emerged from the #GuptaLeaks e-mails, it is pretty clear that the influential businessmen and their various companies managed to subvert the department of home affairs (DHA) and basically used this key ministry to bring in foreign nationals, sidestepping local laws and regulations at will.

It is outrageous when one considers that the Guptas seemingly managed to turn the DHA into their own private permit-issuing factory, manipulating officials to waive important requirements for work visas for at least 50 foreign nationals and family members.

While this may sound like the lesser of their sins compared to the capture of state-owned entities and allegations of money laundering, it certainly says something about the far-reaching influence one family wields in this country.

The nefarious activities of the Guptas may be deeply deplorable, but it is important to remember that the state capture needs willing participants to be executed successfully. It is the element of the ruse that should leave South Africans more disturbed and disgusted.

How can any clear-thinking South African not be outraged that our most crucial and sovereign state institutions are being sold to foreign businessmen, whose only interest is self-enrichment?

Having said that, let’s not forget that the man at the helm of home affairs – at the height of the Gupta shenanigans – was Malusi Gigaba, who has as yet refused to – or has been shielded from – appearing before parliament to explain how and why he fast-tracked the Gupta families naturalisation.