Johannesburg – National Treasury on Friday said it had noted the “numerous attacks” launched by the lawyers representing the Oakbay Group of companies, adding it had no intention of conducting a court case in the court of public opinion.
This comes as finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, declined the “offer to withdraw an application” to the high court in Pretoria for a declaratory order confirming that he cannot intervene in a dispute between Oakbay Investments and the banks that closed its accounts.
Oakbay Investments is a holding company owned by the controversial Gupta family that is also being investigated for “state capture”.
In his affidavit to the High Court, Gordhan released information from the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) which detailed the R6.8-billion in transactions made over four years by Gupta family members and Gupta-owned companies.
In a series of statements, the Guptas and Oakbay denied that the transactions were suspicious but urged Gordhan to drop the application.
Treasury on Friday said it would like to urge Oakbay to respect the court process as it [Treasury] would provide a comprehensive and appropriate response in court.
In a statement, Treasury said it was “peculiar in the extreme” for the Oakbay respondents to address the issues raised in the affidavit by way of media releases as these make no meaningful contribution to the case at hand.
“The Minister has presented his case under oath in an appropriate forum and it is incumbent upon the Oakbay respondents to do likewise should they wish to oppose his version,” Treasury said.
“National Treasury wishes to also point out that, the affidavit by the Minister has not made any pronouncement or interpretation on the FIC report and has sought solely to put the material facts before court.”
Oakbay respondents have filed their answering affidavits to the court.
“We welcome the announcement by Oakbay respondents that, they intend to oppose the application after their unsuccessful attempt to coerce the Minister into withdrawing the matter,” Treasury said.
“This will provide an opportunity for all issues to be properly ventilated in an open court.”
The banks have until close of business on Friday to indicate whether they would oppose Gordhan’s application.
African News Agency