The villains, heroes and zeroes of the Republic of the Gupta - Daily Maverick

The Republic of the Gupta was never built merely by … crooks carrying cash in brown envelopes. Respectable people built it with access cards. People who sign… People who look away. People who know a guy.

Ah, Chief Dwasaho! The Madlanga Commission has gone on recess until 15 September, and daytime television is suddenly useless again. No generals sweating under cross-examination. No political fixers explaining WhatsApp chats. No policemen discovering that their memories ended where the bank statements began. No businessman sending a sick note just as the subpoena arrives.

Insomnia is back. Boredom may kill half the Republic before Madlanga returns.

So, my leader, while the national crime series takes its mid-season break, an audit is due: the heroes, villains and zeroes of the Republic of the Gupta.

Let us begin where this drama began: Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. On 6 July 2025, he strode into a press conference in combat gear and announced, in effect, that the criminal justice system had been infiltrated from within.

Without Mkhwanazi, there is no Madlanga ­Commission.

Next on the heroes’ bench is Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, with commissioners Sesi Baloyi SC and Sandile Khumalo SC. Their democratic superpower is embarrassingly simple: they ask follow-up questions and refuse flimsy answers.

Documents recall. WhatsApps recall. Audio recordings recall. Bank accounts remember with the vindictiveness of an ex-wife. Even deleted messages rise from the dead like ANC cadres before an election.

Madlanga has not waited for a final report before consequences begin moving. The first interim report referred 14 people for investigation. The second added suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya, Witness G and Brown Mogotsi as new names, while again referring Organised Crime Unit Sergeant Fannie Nkosi: 17 unique individuals across the two reports.

Here is the audit, Comrade Leadership: 17 unique referrals; at least eight suspensions; at least 11 arrests among figures who have featured in or around the commission’s evidence; and one criminal charge laid by the commission itself against Suliman Carrim for repeatedly failing to appear. This is not a commission gathering dust. It is a spreadsheet wearing handcuffs.

And the spreadsheet is beginning to bite.

Major General Richard Shibiri is gone. Fired. Brigadier Rachel Matjeng is gone. Fired. Former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Lesetja Senona resigned after suspension. Major General Feroz Khan was dismissed last week after failing to appear for disciplinary proceedings. His Madlanga testimony is now set for 28 September, with the commission requiring an independent medical assessment beforehand.

My leader, the medical certificate has become the unofficial coat of arms of the Republic of the Gupta. Forget the Springbok. Forget the Protea. Our national emblem should now be a doctor’s note saying: “Patient unfit to testify until further notice.”

Which brings us neatly to the villains.

The mistake would be to nominate one. Madlanga has exposed something worse: an ecosystem. Police officers. Tenderpreneurs. Political fixers. Crime Intelligence. Metro police. Businessmen. Confidential information. Alleged criminals. Blue lights.

Finally, after months of whispers and ominous references, the commission showed us a photograph of the five men identified in evidence as the alleged Big Five cartel: Katiso “KT” Molefe, Steve Motsumi, ­Ignatius Mothakathi, “King Nyambose” Mthethwa and the late Jothan “Mswazi” Msibi.

Everybody appears to know everybody. The Republic of the Gupta has become one giant alumni association. At the centre of much of the theatre sits Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, whose relationships with senior police officials and fellow alleged cartel members have occupied hours of testimony before the commission.

Then there is suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department deputy chief Julius “Blue Light Blesser” Mkhwanazi, who was served with a fifth arrest warrant within weeks, while already at court fighting for bail. Perhaps a Guinness World Record.

Then comes Oupa “Baby” Brown Mogotsi, the self-styled political fixer who cannot fix his own address. Accused of staging a hit on himself, he remains behind bars after four failed bail bids. My leader, when a political fixer cannot fix his own address, the profession is in crisis.

Once villainy becomes performance art, we arrive naturally at the zeroes.

Member of Parliament Fadiel Adams owns this category. He arrived before Madlanga with the confidence of a man who thought he had come to expose everybody else.

Then the questions started. The National Coloured Congress leader struggled with classified documents, altered parts of his account and conceded that he had been untruthful to investigators, Parliament and the commission. At one stage, he acknowledged that there were things he had been prepared to “close his eyes to” in pursuit of his objective.

Hayibo! An oversight politician closing his eyes to conduct oversight. That is not oversight. That is undersight. Perhaps even no-sight.

Then there is so-called businessman Suliman Carrim, whose relationship with the witness chair became entirely long-distance. After repeated failures to appear, the commission laid a criminal charge against him.

But this audit would be dishonest if it ended with personalities. The biggest villain and the biggest zero remain the system itself. The Republic of the Gupta was never built merely by spectacular crooks carrying cash in brown envelopes. Respectable people built it with access cards. People who sign. People who approve. People who look away. People who know a guy. People who know a general who knows a businessman who knows a politician who knows a procurement officer who knows absolutely nothing when the commission asks.

That is Madlanga’s real revelation. State Capture did not disappear when the Guptas boarded a plane. It changed surnames. It diversified. It obtained municipal, Treasury and police contracts. It acquired blue lights. It joined WhatsApp. It learnt to submit medical certificates and RFQs.

And now Madlanga is on recess until 15 September and South Africans must return to ordinary boring daytime television.

Bring back the generals. Bring back the affidavits. Bring back the WhatsApps. Bring back the Republic of the Gupta explaining itself under oath. Bring back Adv Baloyi’s immortal words: “You can comment if you want.”

Till next week, my man. Send me to Brigitte Mabandla Justice College. DM

Bhekisisa Mncube is an award-winning author and columnist.