Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance on Sunday welcomed the news that the politically-connected Gupta family will sell their shareholdings in all their businesses in South Africa, but said the family were “like rats abandoning a sinking ship”.
“However, for the Gupta family to suggest that their decision was taken to advance the interest of the country is plain dishonest,” DA spokesman David Maynier said.
The fact was that the members of the Gupta family, and the businesses controlled by them, were the subject of multiple investigations, including an investigation by the Hawks into alleged corruption; an investigation by the Financial Intelligence Centre into alleged money laundering; an investigation by the South African Reserve Bank relating to the termination of business relationships with certain banks; and numerous investigations by National Treasury into alleged corruption relating to their business dealings with state-owned companies, including Denel, Eskom, and Transnet.
Things had evidently reached a “tipping point” and the Gupta family had decided that it was in their best interests to abandon ship in South Africa.
“We will not back down and will do everything to ensure that the various investigations being conducted into the Gupta family's businesses are concluded and that the results of those investigations are made public. The fact is that in the end the Guptas are like rats abandoning a sinking ship in South Africa,” Maynier said.
African News Agency