A great effort has recently been made in the media and by politicians to argue that Tony Leon and his lobbying firm, Resolve Communications, represent the contemporary guise of state capture – on a par with the worst of the Gupta era. Yet at the same time in Tshwane, which contains Pretoria, South Africa's administrative capital and the epicentre of national government power, a political coalition has suspended a city manager who tightened financial controls, improved audit outcomes, and referred suspected crimes to law enforcement.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose office looks out over Tshwane, has said the allegations against Leon "really smacks of the type of state capture that has been discussed". ActionSA, which holds the mayorship of Tshwane, used virtually the same words, saying Leon and his firm "reeked of textbook state capture".

Yet when The Common Sense examined almost 20 separate claims made against Leon, it found that none rise to anything near a definition of state capture at all and that the allegations, on the contrary, are most likely an information operation to undermine confidence in the Democratic Alliance (DA), a party of which Leon is a former leader .

Yet in Tshwane, an actual case of contemporary state capture has attracted relatively little scrutiny.

Johan Mettler, who by all accounts is the ultimate manifestation of a brave and decent public servant, became Tshwane city manager in 2022 and inherited severe financial problems, weak controls, deteriorating infrastructure, and poor audit outcomes. He moved quickly to set that right and, under his leadership, the number of qualifications in Tshwane's financial statements fell from 28 in 2021/22 to two in 2024/25. He restored the Financial Disciplinary Board, strengthened the monitoring of council decisions, reduced procurement irregularities, and made 78 criminal referrals to law enforcement agencies.

That plainly made a lot of people very uncomfortable and greatly limited opportunities to loot the city.

The first step of Mettler’s undoing was when the political leadership of Tshwane changed.

ActionSA abandoned its arrangement with the DA and formed a coalition with the African National Congress and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Cilliers Brink was removed as mayor and replaced by ActionSA's Nasiphi Moya. This coalition had gained control of the political leadership of the capital city, but still faced the problem that Mettler remained in charge of its administration.

The second step came when the EFF subsequently submitted a complaint accusing Mettler of maladministration, irregular recruitment, and obstruction. Mettler denied the allegations and argued that the process was unlawful and predetermined. Following a closed council meeting, conducted under outrageous circumstances, the third step was executed when the new coalition relied on the EFF allegations to vote to suspend him.

If It Looks Like a Duck...

The inversion is extraordinary – and virtually a mirror image of the South African Revenue Service “rogue unit” false news scandal that marked the high-water mark of Zuma-era state capture.

Yet the media and political responses would suggest anything but that, with far more coverage, commentary, and political outrage generated at Leon than at what is plainly an audacious case of state capture occurring in Tshwane.