South Africa's 'silent coup'
South Africa has experienced a silent coup which has moved power away from the Union Buildings.
That's according to a group of academics working with the South African Council of Churches (SACC) on a report about state capture.
The report is written by a group of academics and a journalist.
Stellenbosch University's Professor Mark Swilling is one of the researchers of the report.
He says: "Our core argument is that a silent coup has taken place. What we have seen over the last number of years is the collapse of cabinet governance. What we rather have is a constellation of kitchen cabinets. They compete with one another for favour from Zuma."
He says there's a well-known saying among these elites: "The most influential person, is the person who last spoke to Zuma.
The Public Affairs Research Institute has released the results of its study on the country's emerging shadow state.
The report is titled 'How South Africa is being stolen'.
Meanwhile, Professor Mkuzisi Qobo says there is a criminalisation of the state.
Qobo is one of the researchers of the report.
He says at the centre of it all is President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family network.
"We make a very strong point that this is an organised phenomenon and a deliberate criminalisation of the state. There is a division of labour where you have a different set of individuals playing unique roles that are all directed at furthering this systematic criminalisation of the state," he explains.