DA leader in the Free State Roy Jankielsohn says the party hopes the Hawks' raid on the offices of Free State Premier Ace Magashule is a sign that the province can now be cleansed of corruption and focus on services.
The raid was related to the investigation into the Vrede dairy scandal in which Magashule, his family and the Guptas are directly implicated in.
Hundreds of millions of rands from Free State government coffers presumably ended up with the Guptas through this scheme.
Jankielsohn has been fighting against the scheme for years, insisting that it should be investigated.
"Now that it's happening, I almost have mixed feelings about it. I just want them to charge the culprits. Hopefully the Free State can be cleansed of corruption and there can be a focus on services. Every cent that disappeared in that way can be used for roads and to pay Eskom."
However, Jankielsohn warned that the Vrede dairy scheme was just one of many projects in the Free State that operated in such a manner. This is why the Free State department of agriculture declared a dispute with the Auditor-General that Gupta companies, such as Estina, cannot be investigated, he said.
The Guptas of the Free State
The Guptas are not the only family that must be investigated because they were involved in alleged state capture in the Free State, he charged.
"The Docrat family are the Guptas of the Free State. They received tenders worth millions of rands here," he said.
Jankielsohn said the Hawks were closing in on corruption and that he thought this was because law enforcement agencies had found the courage to do their work the moment that Cyril Ramaphosa took over control of the ANC as president.
"The people in security services have realised that the tide has turned. Now they can do their work. Ace Magashule is now the biggest thorn in Cyril's flesh because he is President Jacob Zuma's most important agent. He wants to get rid of him so that he can gain the support of the majority of the executive committee to kick Zuma out.
Magashule is the gatekeeper. Take him away and the gate will be open for Zuma to be removed.
"Another thing is that Magashule applied the policy of cadre deployment to appoint his people. Ramaphosa knows that he must act fast before he fills Luthuli House with his own people too," said Jankielsohn.
Greed - one of the seven deadly sins
On the questions of why politicians and officials became involved in state capture, so that money meant for the upliftment of the poor presumably flowed into overseas bank accounts, he said it had everything to do with self-enrichment.
"It is absolute self-enrichment. I have asked many times: 'How much is enough? R1m? R1bn?' The only factor is greed, one of the seven deadly sins. It is linked to power. It gives them that feeling of self-satisfaction."
Jankielsohn said the best thing about a Free State government without Magashule would be that opposition parties could do their work. With Magashule there, everything is political and few problems can be solved, he said.
-- Netwerk24