Pretoria – The politically-connected Gupta family's company Oakbay has made "sensational and politically-driven" claims and allegations designed to deflect from the primary issues raised in Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s recent court application, the National Treasury said on Saturday.
"National Treasury notes the filing of an answering affidavit on Friday in the Pretoria High Court in response to Minister Gordhan’s application," a statement issued by the Treasury said.
Gordhan sought a declaratory order as to whether he may, under the Constitution and otherwise by law, interfere with a decision by several South African banks to terminate the accounts held with them by the Oakbay group of companies controlled by the Gupta family.
The legal team of the National Treasury was studying the affidavit.
Treasury noted that in advance of the court’s hearing of the matter on March 28, Oakbay had released a press statement which called on the court to "decline to grant the relief sought by the minister and dismiss the minister’s application".
"In its statement Oakbay makes sensational and politically-driven claims and allegations, which are designed to deflect from the primary issues raised in the minister’s declaratory order.
Strikingly Oakbay’s answer in the media statement is that it does not contest the minister’s legal contentions: "[t]here is no contested legal issue here and there is never [sic] any reason for the minister to bring [sic] this application".
"Yet Oakbay 'calls on the court' to refuse a declaratory order based on legal contentions it concedes it is unable to contest."
Various media houses on Friday approached the minister to respond on media platforms.
The minister believed that it was wrong to anticipate the determination of the issues by the court in the way the Gupta-controlled companies sought to do. The court process was to be respected.
"The minister will respond, inter alia to Oakbay’s concession that it does not now contest the minister’s legal contentions, and its attempt (inter alia via the 'international investigative firm' which it has now 'engaged' to 'review the 72 transactions') in the court process.
The minister will do so in accordance with proper legal practice in his replying affidavit to be filed on 27 January 2017, the National Treasury said.