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South Africa has seen the establishment of numerous commissions of inquiry and parallel governance processes over the past decade, including the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, the Nugent Commission into the South African Revenue Service, the Mpati Commission into the Public Investment Corporation, the Mokgoro Board of Inquiry into the National Prosecuting Authority, and more recently the Madlanga Commission investigating criminality and political interference in the criminal justice system. 

“These processes have cost the South African taxpayer enormous amounts of money while corruption and mismanagement continue to destroy the lives of working people and communities”, said AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa. 

Publicly reported figures indicate that the State Capture Commission alone cost close to R1 billion, while the Mpati Commission cost approximately R54,5 million, the Nugent Commission around R8,8 million and the Mokgoro inquiry about R3,6 million. The recently established Madlanga Commission has a publicly stated budget of approximately R147,9 million. 

“Workers who go underground every day to produce the wealth of this country and the working class in general who work for slave salaries and unfavourable conditions of employment – they are the ones who ultimately pay for these commissions through their 

taxes and through their labour”, Mathunjwa said. “…and even those who are seeking employment, for that matter”, he added. 

At the same time, additional structures such as dialogues, task teams and advisory bodies continue to be established across the state, often operating alongside institutions that already exist for oversight and accountability. 

“What we are witnessing is a pattern where every crisis is followed by the announcement of another process, another committee or another commission instead of fixing the institutions that already exist”, he added. 

The recent establishment of a Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee while the Madlanga Commission is already tasked with investigating criminality and interference in the criminal justice system has further raised concerns about duplication. 

“If the Madlanga Commission is already investigating these matters, what exactly is this ad hoc committee expected to do”, Mathunjwa asked. 

Members of Parliament who serve on ad hoc committees continue to receive their full parliamentary remuneration and benefits regardless of how frequently those committees meet. In addition, Parliament allocates administrative support, venues, travel, accommodation and operational budgets to such committees as part of its institutional expenditure, meaning that the costs associated with these structures continue to accrue even during periods when little or no substantive work is undertaken. 

“When structures are created that duplicate each other, the public ends up paying twice for the same work while the people responsible for wrongdoing still walk free”, he added. 

Parliament already has permanent oversight committees mandated to investigate governance failures, and law-enforcement agencies are constitutionally mandated to investigate corruption and criminal conduct. 

“When government creates parallel processes on top of existing processes, it begins to look less like accountability and more like political theatre”, he added. 

AMCU says that the proliferation of commissions and parallel structures risks creating a governance culture in which public funds are spent on processes rather than on solutions. 

“This is money that belongs to the workers of this country. It should be building communities, creating jobs and improving the lives of ordinary people”, Mathunjwa said. 

The Union emphasised that the memory of the Marikana workers who died while demanding dignity and justice must remain central to the debate about accountability and public spending. 

“What did the Marikana workers die for if the state continues to spend workers’ money on endless committees and commissions while mismanagement of funds continues without consequence”, Mathunjwa asked. 

AMCU warned that creating overlapping committees and commissions does not resolve systemic failures in governance. 

“Creating a new committee on top of a commission that already exists is like putting icing on a cake made of horse manure. It may look impressive, but it does not change the substance underneath”, Mathunjwa said. 

The Union therefore calls on government to focus on strengthening existing institutions, enforcing accountability and ensuring consequence management rather than continuing to establish parallel processes that duplicate one another. 

“South Africa does not need more commissions, dialogues and task teams. It needs accountability. It needs consequence management. And it needs leadership that respects the sacrifices made by workers and protects the public purse, he said. 

“We can address all these things by resetting this country through constitutional amendment to have a new electoral system to ensure that the state president is elected by the people. Then change the system to a federal system to ensure that all citizens have their rights respected and their liberties protected”, Mathunjwa concluded. 

Issued by AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa