Opinion - It's almost inevitable that whenever President Jacob Zuma makes a major policy announcement, people immediately begin questioning his intentions and looking for possible ulterior motives.
The only plausible reason for this is that many South Africans appear to have lost faith in the president, especially after his questionable role in a series of scandals and controversies - from the spending of millions of taxpayer money on expensive upgrades to his private home in Nkandla to his dubious relationship with the notorious Gupta family.
His recent announcement of the establishment of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture is a case in point.
Although the appointment of the commission has been widely welcomed across the political spectrum, the big question many people are asking is: what took him so long?
The mountain of evidence and allegations on state capture involving the diverting of billions of taxpayer funds into private hands; the shameful looting of government entities like Eskom, Transnet and Prasa; and claims that the controversial Gupta family have been able to exert undue influence on senior government appointments, has been growing over the past few years.
It was more than a year ago that the highly respected former public protector, Thuli Madonsela, published her report which detailed the role played by certain government leaders and institutions in rampant corruption and how private interests influenced the way in which government operated.
The only way to get to the root of the scourge would be a commission of inquiry which this newspaper fully supports.
What has, however, clouded Zuma’s announcement is confusion over the commission’s terms of reference.
While Madonsela had made it clear such a commission should be confined to the recommendations in her original report, her successor, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, and President Zuma are pressing for a broadening of the commission’s terms of reference to cover all other instances of state capture.
Mkhwebane’s proposal is nothing more than an unnecessary delaying tactic.
What the country needs is an official inquiry that focuses specifically on state capture under President Zuma and the role played by the Gupta family in this long-running scandal.
Keep the inquiry structured and focused so that we can see remedial action that will bring an end to the bribery, corruption and wholesale looting of state coffers.
Any further delays will only serve to make the public more sceptical about government’s commitment to end corruption.