Parliament -The luggage carried by members of the Gupta family as they left South Africa on a private plane last month contained nothing untoward, a South African Revenue Service official told MPs on Wednesday.
William Mpye, the head of customs and excise compliance at Sars, said the captain of the aircraft gave customs a declaration note stating that it would carry eight passengers, eight crew members and 15 pieces of luggage.
He said the bags were scanned and checked by customs, adding: “We did not find anything untoward.”
Mpye was responding to a question from Democratic Alliance finance spokesman David Maynier during a briefing to a joint sitting of three parliamentary portfolio committees.
The opposition MP has asked several officials, including Sars commissioner Tom Moyane, whether the wealthy family with links to government complied with all customs laws when they left for Dubai from Lanseria airport in early April.
This was the first time Maynier received a direct response, Moyane having said that Sars could not provide this level of personal information.
Ajay and Atul Gupta were reported to have left South Africa shortly after major banks withdrew financing for Oakbay Investments amid claims that they sought to influence Cabinet appointments and other executive decisions.
The Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has claimed that the brothers smuggled billions of rands out of the country, bypassing Reserve Bank regulations, with the help of President Jacob Zuma.
African News Agency