The decomposition of South African state institutions has been blamed on corruption, but we must now recognise that the problem goes well beyond this. While corruption is widespread at all levels and is undermining development, state capture is a far greater, systemic threat. It is akin to a silent coup. The March 2017 Cabinet reshuffle was confirmation of this silent coup; it was the first Cabinet reshuffle that took place without the full prior support of the governing party. This is an extract from the just published report by the State Capacity Research Project entitled: Betrayal of the Promise: How South Africa is being Stolen.

It doesn't get more ridiculous than this. A Welkom man owes Absa Bank R1,4m after borrowing just R52,000 in 2008. Even Absa seems a bit embarrased by this travesty of justice, saying it is willing to accept a variation of the court order (which is certainly in violation of the National Credit Act and minimally one of the most negligent judgments to come to our attention).

Calls to chop and change our Constitution amount to little more than spur-of-the-moment political kneejerks. If those calls are effected, they will be contrary to the rule of law and therefore void. South Africans should respect the Constitution as an inflexible statute meant to endure for generations.

The rise and fall of the Guptas and their capture of a president will be studied in political and PR classes for generations to come. The good news is they are a spent force.

Social media exploded this weekend with news that UK-based PR firm Bell Pottinger - one-time spin doctors for the Guptas - has apologised "unequivocally" for some of the things its PR hacks had pulled off while in the pay of the Guptas. Now we know where the "white monopoly capital" meme came from. We also now know who authored the "radical economic transformation" nonsense that has been peddled by leading ANC lights. The leaked Gupta emails highlighted the role this firm played in stirring anti-white tensions in this country. Biznews takes a look at what went on behind the scenes, and the scale of the damage wrought by Bell Pottinger. The question some are asking is whether the PR firm can survive this outrage.

The public protector is standing by her controversial report on the Absa-Bankorp lifeboat, in which she recommends that the South African Reserve Bank’s constitutional mandate be changed, saying that she would oppose applications by the Bank and the Treasury to have the report set aside.

South of Joburg lies an area known as Evaton, which you race past on your way to Vereeniging or Bloemfontein. On the surface, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about the area. The roads are pot-holed and neglected, electricity power lines criss-cross the streets and the houses range from fancy to mud brick, much as you would find in neighbouring Orange Farm. But Evaton has a storied history, and an interesting legal claim for land restitution that could run into billions of rands.

President Jacob Zuma has taken the ANC from a shoe-in at elections to an electoral liability. His reign as president has spawned two break-away parties, and a gaping credibility problem. Could the 2019 elections bring electoral disaster for the ruling party? At last week's ANC national policy conference, Zuma looked to point the finger for the party's problems anywhere but at himself. 

The Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (“Fais”) is unclear about which intermediary services require licensing. It violates the Rule of Law principle that laws must indicate with reasonable clarity what is. 

Banks are raking in between R500 million and R800 million a month from bounced debit orders. That’s a sizeable portion of the banks’ non-interest fee income each year for little more than running a piece of computer code. How is it that they have failed to heed the findings of a Compeition Commission investigation into banking charges which recommended a R5 cap on a bounced debit order? 

Empires are built through the creation or acquisition of wealth. The Roman Empire came about through the productivity of its people and its subsequent acquisition of wealth from those that it invaded. The Spanish Empire began with productivity and expanded through the use of its large armada of ships, looting the New World of its gold. The British Empire began through localized productivity and grew through its creation of colonies worldwide—colonies that it exploited, bringing the wealth back to England to make it the wealthiest country in the world.

SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni is reportedly awol while SAA struggles to repay a R2,3bn loan to Standard Chartered Bank. Myeni's time at SAA is up, according to recent reports. Under her tenure, she clocked up losses of more than R10bn, got rid of several top executives, and was embroiled in financial irregularities, such employing a company with no experience to refinance R15bn worth of loans for the airline.

A couple from Meyersdale, Joburg, nearly lost their home as the bank that held the mortgage bond agreement, insisted they pay back the entire outstanding bond for being two weeks late on their payment. The Constitutional Court slapped Nedbank down, arguing that the couple had lawfully reinstated their bond, even though they were late in catching up on arrears.

Millions of rands allegedly laundered by a Gupta associate, Eric Wood, were used to sponsor the awards that named presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma the South African of the Year two years ago. The South African of the Year Awards are run by the Gupta family-owned The New Age Company.

More evidence from leaked emails show how finance minister Malusi Gigaba - while still at public enterprises - and his successor Lynne Brown placed Gupta associates into key positions in state-owned companies. The Guptas benefited to the tune of billions of rands.

Here's a case where Nedbank repossessed a Katlehong home for R10. You read that right. Ernest Mashaba and his family have been put through a decade of hell and have been evicted four times, each time re-occupying the house, believing the bank had made a mistake. Here's the kicker: Ernest Mashaba never missed a payment and has written confirmation from the bank that his mortgage loan is fully paid up. His story is little different from that of Johm Mojaki of Randfontein, who also has written confirmation from the bank that his loan is paid up. His house has also been sold behind his back. "The only way they will get me out of here is in a coffin," he says.

Rumours that President Jacob Zuma was about to resign and take up residence in Dubai - with the assistance of the Gupta family - sent the rand soaring to R12,70 to the US dollar on Monday morning. The president is now besieged not just by opposition parties, but a strong and growing faction within the ANC. The Sunday Times added fuel to this fire with stunning revelations of the extent to which the Guptas had managed to gain control of ministers and state-owned enterprises. 

Zimbabwe has become a mafia-run state, where 2,000 super-wealthy elites hold the country to ransom. The Marange diamond field is run by a nest of thieves, where an estimated $20 billion has been pilfered. In a country with 80% unemployment, this sends a clear message to the rest of the country - take the money and run, says Zimbabwean member of parliament Eddie Cross.

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has just barred SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) - which has summonsed thousands of Gauteng motorists for non-payment of e-tolls - from arguing 55 cases in court. Outa claims the Roads Agency has not followed court procedures and deadlines. Sanral will now have to restart court procedings from scratch. Further complicating matters is the issue of prescription, as some of this e-toll debt is now more than three years old and therefore may not be payable.

The good news is that as of Wednesday 25th May, everything you earn is yours to keep. The bad news is that up until Wednesday, you have been working for the government - and you spent five more days as a slave to government than in 2015. Every year the Free Market Foundation meaures how many days it takes to discharge South Africans' "debt" to government - in other words, how many days you must work to pay off the government's share of GDP. 

We now have a clearer idea of how the Gupta-owned Tegeta got control of the Optimum coal mine from Glencore for a song, using its "special relationship" with Eskom. The deal stinks to high heaven. It involved imposing an impossibly high fine on Glencore for supplying under-sized coal to Eskom, which allowed Tegeta to move in and capture the mine - and resume normal business with Eskom. Former mineral resources minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi was fired by President Jacob Zuma for refusing to co-operate with the elaborate scam. Here's how it went down.

Free speech is under attack by an out-of-control government that seeks to monitor and regulate everything that moves (even sounds out of your mouth). Two of the most appalling pieces of proposed legislation to belly-flop before us are the Hate Speech bill - which makes it a criminal offence to jokingly insult a lawyer or a plumber - and the Information and Communications Technologies Policy white paper, which would create a semi-monpoly owned by the state with control over the radio frequency. 

The phrase "climate denier" has come to mean someone who refutes the facts of climate change brought about by humans. But as Scott Adams point out in this article, the climate science believers and deniers are actually talking about two different things. The subject has become so muddied by the word "science" that the term has lost its meaning. There may indeed be climate change - but don't expect science to solve this one.

This is how you end up thinking when you have been too long in a state-owned enterprise. The SA Broadcasting Corporation, faced with plummeting revenue, has proposed that it be allowed to charge license fees on all viewing devices, including your laptop, cell phone and tablet. This absurdity - from a corporation drowning in corruption and incompetence - must be stopped.