DA’s Gupta Probe: Ministers evade answering questions on meeting with Guptas
7 July 2016
Over the past two months the DA has compiled the replies to a series of parliamentary questions to Cabinet Ministers regarding their alleged contact with the now infamous Gupta family. Our questions were met with evasive answers contradicting claims made by Ajay Gupta himself that he has met with several Cabinet Ministers.
As such we welcome National Treasury releasing funds for the Public Protector to pursue this important investigation as requested by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane MP. In support of this investigation, the DA will be handing over the suspicious parliamentary replies from Cabinet Ministers to help bolster this investigation.
Last year a number of senior ANC politicians publically alleged that the Gupta family had approached them and current members of Cabinet in attempts to influence appointments and various government projects.
Members of the Gupta family such as Ajay Gupta have also on numerous occasions boasted about the access they had to Cabinet and the meetings they had with various Ministers. However, almost all of the Ministers questioned claim not to have met with them. Speaking recently on the SABC’s Morning Live breakfast show, Ajay Gupta when asked if he had ever had meetings with Cabinet Ministers, said "many times”, stating further that a "meeting is not a problem at all I’m not going to deny it; I’m never going to deny anything because we did it," he said.
In May this year, after releasing damning revelations online, former ANC MP, Vytjie Mentor, laid corruption-related charges against the Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown, Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, and Minister of Defence, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. The replies from these Minister’s is very interesting.
The Minister of Public Enterprises essentially refused to answer the question and instead referred us to the Ministerial Handbook. Considering the Gupta family’s alleged attempts to monopolise SA’s nuclear future, the Minister’s lack of candour is unacceptable. It would appear that Minister Lynne Brown is hiding something.
The Minster of Trade and Industry admits to having met with members of the family or affiliates and then vaguely wafts on about his mandate and stakeholder relations, but does a poor job of explaining how accepting a wedding invite from the Gupta family fits into that mandate. His attempt to obfuscate the truth is not fooling us – he met with the Gupta’s and needs to come clean about exactly what those meetings involved.
The Minister of Defence flatly denies meeting with the Gupta family, except at social events. One wonders then what information Vytjie Mentor has on which to lay corruption charges against Minister Mapisa-Nqakula.
In January Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane’s Spokesperson confirmed that the Minister had flown to Switzerland with the Gupta family to negotiate the Optimum mine sales deal, yet Minister Zwane’s parliamentary reply claims not to have had any meetings with the Gupta family or their associates.
The Ministers of Home Affairs, despite the extensive protocol lists usually prepared ahead of official engagements claim that they "never knowingly met anyone for official meetings" and "might have met members, employees and associates" of the Gupta family.
State Security have unsurprisingly decided to keep their interactions secret. State security however cannot be used as a shroud to conceal state capture, and the Minister should have been transparent with Parliament.
Other departments such as Public Service and Administration, Small Business Development and most suspiciously Sport & Recreation’s Ministers have not yet replied to any of our questions.
It is important to note that now that almost all of Cabinet’s Ministers have denied meeting the Gupta family and their associates in parliamentary replies, any evidence to the contrary that surfaces could constitute a violation of section 17(2)(d) of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliaments and Provincial Legislatures Act.
Clearly Parliament and the public are being misled. The DA has already moved a motion to establish an ad hoc committee to investigate state capture by the Gupta family. At the start of the third term of Parliament we will push for this motion to be debated in the House and for the committee to be established. If the ANC is serious about fighting state capture then they will support this motion wholeheartedly. Parliament must fulfil its oversight role in this regard.
The Gupta family’s Cabinet capture has robbed countless of South African’s of the opportunities, and the DA will continue to monitor this situation and push Parliament to ensure that anyone who colluded or contributed to the capture of our state is held accountable.
Issued by John Steenhuisen, Chief Whip of DA, 7 July 2016
