Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday said South Africa's law enforcement agencies should waste no time in investigating mounting allegations of state capture at the country's parastatals.

"The agencies need to pursue all these allegations with equal vigour... it is something the public as a whole is waiting for, for them to get on with this task," he said while responding to questions from the opposition in the National Assembly.

"Firstly, the money stolen should be brought back and secondly, those responsible should be brought to book."

He said the agencies that needed to act, include the National Prosecuting Authority and the elite priority crimes police unit the Hawks.

Ramaphosa commended Parliament's portfolio committee on public enterprises for its inquiry into Eskom, which has in recent weeks heard testimony that the power utility unlawfully paid hundreds of millions of rands to companies linked to the Gupta family. Witnesses have claimed that Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown was complicit in corruption, prompting her to denounce the probe as "a kangaroo court".