Parliament's secretive Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) failed to carry out its oversight duties resulting in, according to the State Capture Commission of Inquiry, it contributing "to some extent", to state capture.
Under the watch of the previous iterations of the JSCI, ministers were allowed to act with apparent impunity in getting operationally involved in intelligence operations, an investigation into the Guptas by the Secret Security Agency (SSA) was squashed and former president Jacob Zuma and a Cabinet minister were apparently able to make the prosecution of Arthur Fraser, a senior spy, go away.
"By failing to properly carry out its oversight role and to heed the call by the country's then-intelligence chiefs, Parliament has, at least to some extent, contributed towards state capture, because its failure to do its job meant that acts of state capture and corruption were allowed to spread and deepen.
