The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, is a public inquiry established in January 2018 by former President Jacob Zuma to investigate allegations of state capture, corruption, and fraud in the public sector in South Africa. By December 2020, the commission had interviewed 278 witnesses and collected 159,109 pages and one exabyte of data as evidence. It received eight extensions to finish its report, with 15 June 2022 being the end of its mandate. The first part of the report was published on 4 January 2022. The fifth and final part was published on 22 June 2022. It has cost the state close to R1 billion, far more than any prior South African judicial inquiry. History In 2016, the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, launched an investigation into state capture after receiving formal complaints from Stanislaus Muyebe of the Dominican Order of Southern Africa, another member of the public, and leader of the opposition Mmusi Maimane. In November 2016, the publication of the report of her investigation, titled State of Capture, caused a major scandal. The report implicated Zuma and other state officials in improper relationships with the Gupta family, among other improprieties, and recommended that Zuma should appoint a commission of inquiry into state capture. Zuma sought to have Madonsela's findings overturned in the High Court, but the court dismissed his application, finding that the Public Protector's recommendation was binding and that Zuma had to appoint a commission of inquiry within 30 days. At the instruction of the court, it was Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng who selected the chairperson of the inquiry, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. Zondo is assisted by several other full-time officials, including former Auditor-General Terence Nombembe at the head of the investigations team, and Frank Dutton, who served as lead investigator until his death in January 2022. The commission was established in January 2018 but did not hold its first hearing until August 2018, by which time Zuma had resigned and been replaced by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Following a series of extensions, it concluded its hearings in August 2021 with testimony from Ramaphosa. However, on 29 September, the Pretoria High Court granted the commission another three-month extension, which expired at the end of December 2021. Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald