On 25 May 2017, Betrayal of the Promise: How South Africa is Being Stolen was published. The report, co-authored by Ivor Chipkin, examined state capture not only as a network of corruption, but as a political project that challenged the constitutional foundations of South Africa’s democratic state. To mark the anniversary of the report, Chipkin joined Mondli Makhanya on Power FM to reflect on what Betrayal of the Promise identified at the time, what has changed since its publication, and which institutional challenges remain unresolved.

In the interview, Chipkin revisits the central argument of the report: that state capture was enabled by a convergence of political ideology, control over public institutions, and access to state-owned enterprises. He notes that the period involved “an assault on the very institutions which the state needed in order to function”, including Eskom, Prasa, Transnet and the National Treasury.

The conversation also considers the legacy of the Zondo Commission, the continuing weakness of criminal accountability, and recent reforms aimed at insulating the public administration from inappropriate political interference. Chipkin highlights the Public Service Amendment Act as a significant step in closing one of the institutional pathways through which state capture became possible. At the same time, he cautions that the political ideas that underpinned state capture have not disappeared.

The interview points to an unresolved tension in South Africa’s democratic settlement: how to advance social and economic transformation while strengthening, rather than weakening, constitutional institutions. The discussion forms part of NSI’s ongoing work on the state, public administration and institutional reform.

Listen to the full interview here.