Deputy President David Mabuza has assured that state capture suspects, who are on the run outside of South Africa, will be found and subpoenaed.
Mabuza was answering questions during a sitting of the National Council of Provinces on Wednesday when he was asked what the state is doing to hold those alleged to be involved in state capture, but who have left the country, to account.
The whereabouts of the Gupta brothers and Jacob Zuma's son, Duduzane, are currently unknown. However, it is believed they are all in foreign countries.
"We are a country that has got its own laws and we are respected among countries. And if anyone has done wrong on our shores, our laws empower us to find that someone to come and account ... We have a relationship with a number of countries, I don't think people can run to other countries and think we can't find them," Mabuza said.
"We are a country, we are not a banana republic ... When that time comes, people will be subpoenaed to come."
Mabuza was asked about government's short and long-term interventions to ensure the strengthening of good governance in the public service and state-owned entities.
"We note that corruption is a cancer that we must not allow to grow. We want to stem the leakage and uproot corruption from our ranks ... We have decided not to complain about corruption, we have decide to act to stem the tide," he said.
Mabuza said government is seeking out all delinquent directors and public servants who are "more interested in serving their nests than serving the public".
"In the short term, under the leadership of the interministerial committee on state-owned enterprises ... we have capacitated the board of South African Airways and the fast-tracking of the appointment of the new CEO to oversee the implementation of the turnaround strategy. We have done the same with Eskom," Mabuza said.
"For a longer-term outlook, we will focus on the implementation and the recommendation of the presidential review commission on SOEs. The interministerial committee on SOEs has made considerable progress and we are quite happy with the progress so far. We have completed a government shareholder policy, which is undergoing stakeholder consultation to enable the drafting of an effective legislation."