Minister ‘Gigupta’ must use Parliament appearance tomorrow to explain Gupta Spying
26 June 2017
The DA believes that revelations about Gupta-owned Sahara Chief Executive, Ashu Chawla’s, access to sensitive, confidential and private state-held information about Gupta opponents, amounts to criminal conduct and that much of the data appears to be of the sort which officials of the Department of Home Affairs, possibly even the Minister, could have accessed and handed over.
The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs last week unanimously agreed to summon Malusi Gigaba to appear in Parliament tomorrow. Minister Gigaba must appear tomorrow, and must fully account for any role that Home Affairs played in this breach.
Minister ‘Gigupta’ must account for how the Guptas accessed this sensitive and private information, much of which is Home Affairs data, while he was Minister of Home Affairs.
The DA will also request that the Chairperson of the Home Affairs Portfolio Committee, Lemias Mashile, add this new Gupta scandal to the ongoing Committee investigation into the capture of Home Affairs officials and Ministry by the Guptas.
Just last week the DA also confirmed that Minister Gigupta did not declare to Parliament the naturalisation of members of the Gupta family and in so doing, breached the Citizenship Act.
Gigaba is clearly attempting to bury the truth that the Guptas were personally granted citizenship by him. On top of the accusations that such sensitive information, which appears to be Home Affairs data, was leaked to the Guptas on Gigaba’s watch, this shows how captured a Minister he really is.
There is growing evidence that President Jacob Zuma, Gigaba and his ANC cabinet colleagues have bent the rules to advantage the Guptas far and wide.
Revelations that the Guptas accessed state-held information to spy on opponents only further exposes the Guptas and their acolytes as law-breakers, looters and crooks, who have undermined the sovereignty of our government in collusion with the ANC.
It is simply outrageous that the compromised family would 'spy' on South Africans whom they openly declare to be the opponents, and be privy to government information.
Gigupta must provide a full and satisfactory account as to how and why this information got out, so that we can ensure those responsible face the full might of the law.
Issued by Haniff Hoosen, DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, 26 June 2017
