South Africa Close to Becoming Mafia State, Church Panel Finds

A powerful elite centered around President Jacob Zuma has systematically siphoned off state assets, and corruption is so pervasive that it threatens South Africa’s constitutional democracy, according to testimony given to a panel established by the nation’s main church organization.

“South Africa may just be a few inches from the throes of a mafia state from which there may be no return -- a recipe for a failed state,” Malusi Mpumlwana, secretary-general of the South African Council of Churches, said Thursday during the release of the findings of the Unburdening Panel in Johannesburg. “What we see at present is the government has lost moral legitimacy.”