MINISTER MALUSI GIGABA HANDLED GUPTA NATURALISATION APPLICATION IN A LAWFUL MANNER
Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba confirms that the documents circulated through social media yesterday with respect to the Gupta family naturalisation application are genuine.
The Minister lawfully approved the application in terms of South African Citizenship Act, 1995 (Act 88 of 1995) that was amended by the South African Citizenship Amendment Act, 2010 (Act No. 17 of 2010)). The Act vests the authority on the Minister of Home Affairs to grant a certificate of naturalisation as a South African citizen to any alien who satisfies requirements for naturalisation.
The application was handled in line with the procedure that requires that the Department of Home Affairs submits recommendations to the Minister for consideration.
The granting of naturalisation certificates of this nature not unusual. Similar courtesies have been extended to prominent businessmen, including executives of multi-nationals, and sports people. There is no impropriety on the part of the Minister in relation to how the application in question has been handled.
It is, therefore, unfortunate that the focus of the nation is diverted towards spurious sideshows when the country is faced with massive economic challenges The Minister calls on all sectors of South African society to channel their energies on the urgent priority of boosting economic growth and rebuilding confidence in the economy following the credit-rating downgrades.