Author: Zackie Achmat

On 18 August 2026, I sat through nearly ten hours of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) hearing from the Special Investigating Unit, the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority on referrals and prosecutions. Members drifted out as the day wore on. One searched for holidays in Muscat as I sat behind him. The last question of the day was put by the chairperson, Songezo Zibi, and it was the one we had come for: what has happened to Swifambo and Siyangena, the two contracts at the centre of state capture at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa…