A multidisciplinary analysis of how state capture unfolded in South Africa and was contested within both civil society and the state itself. It presents a scholarly and empirical understanding of how things went awry, even with various regulating bodies in place, and how to prevent state capture from happening again in the future.

A multidisciplinary analysis of how state capture unfolded in South Africa and was contested within both civil society and the state itself. It presents a scholarly and empirical understanding of how things went awry, even with various regulating bodies in place, and how to prevent state capture from happening again in the future.

The metaphor of ‘state capture’ has dominated South Africa’s political discourse in the post-Zuma presidency era. What is state capture and how does it manifest? Is it just another example of a newly independent, failed African state? And is it unique to South Africa?

The contributors in this collection try to explain the phenomenon from a variety of viewpoints and disciplines. All hold fast to the belief that the democracy that promised the country so much when apartheid ended has been significantly eroded, resulting in most citizens expressing a loss of hope for the future. Read together, the essays cumulatively show not only how state capture was enabled and who benefitted, but also how and by whom it was scrutinised and exposed in order to hold those in power accountable. The book aims to present a scholarly and empirical understanding of how things went awry, even with various regulating bodies in place, and how to prevent state capture from happening again in the future.

Introduction: Understanding and Explaining State Capture – Mbongiseni Buthelezi and Peter Vale
Chapter 1 Elite Formation, Factions and Violence in the Political Economy of Corruption – Karl von Holdt
Chapter 2 State Capture, the Racket and Predatory Power – Robyn Foley
Chapter 3 The Foundations of Corruption in South Africa – Ryan Brunette
Chapter 4 Legal Mobilisation against State Capture – Jonathan Klaaren
Chapter 5 How Professionals Enabled State Capture – Cherese Thakur and Devi Pillay
Chapter 6 Civil Society in the Face of State Capture: Solidarity and Disharmony – Luke Spiropoulos
Chapter 7 Media Capture, the Mirror of State Capture – Reg Rumney
Chapter 8 State Capture and the Popular Imagination: Narrowing the Narrative – Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh
Chapter 9 Cycles of State Capture: Bringing Profiteers and Enablers to Account – Hennie van Vuuren and Michael Marchant
Chapter 10 Old Ways and New Days: An Interview with Barney Pityana – Mbongiseni Buthelezi and Peter Vale
Chapter 11 Can Democracy Bind the State? Comparative Thoughts from Brazil, India and South Africa – Patrick Heller
Contributors
Index