Abstract
The Jacob Zuma Presidency (2009-2017) was dogged by persistent allegations of
corruption and the looting of State Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) by those allied to him.
It led to allegations of state capture that placed the Gupta family at the centre of this
project. These allegations have been highly contested, with Zuma supporters arguing
that he has come under attack because of his support for the BRICS alliance (Brazil,
Russia, India, China, South Africa), which they hold challenges Western imperial
interests. Alongside this are those aligned to the Gupta family, arguing that the real
culprits of state capture, both historically and in contemporary South Africa, is White
Monopoly Capital (WMC), through its ability to determine macro-economic policy. At
the heart of this contest is what has come to be known as tender-based capitalists who
sought to use access to SOE’s for the accumulation of capital. This process has been
defended on the basis that it has the potential to lead a radical economic transformation
(RET) that that can challenge the power of WMC. Others have held that this argument
is a mere fig leaf for the looting of state coffers, eroding its capacity for deeper
developmental initiatives and fostering a parasitic class. This article that focusses on
this debate that entered the heart of the African National Congress (ANC) and
threatened to tear it apart takes the form of a conjunctural analysis; conjuncture defined
as an amalgam ‘of circumstances, a convergence of events, an intersection of
contingencies and necessities, a complex, overdetermined state of affairs-usually...