#GuptaEmails: Gupta family deny any wrongdoing

Ajay and Atul Gupta File photo

Ajay and Atul Gupta File photo

Published May 28, 2017

Share

Cape Town – The release of a number of damning emails which lay bare the extent of the Gupta family's influence in South Africa has sent shock waves through the country.

The damning revelations by the Sunday Times and City Press come as the ANC's National Executive Committee was discussing a motion of no confidence tabled against President Jacob Zuma during a tense meeting on Saturday.

The Gupta family’s attorney Gert van der Merwe dismissed the reports, which are based on internal emails.

“I invite the newsrooms relying on these documents to disclose them (and the sources from which it was ostensibly obtained) to my client for consideration and comment if possible. Once the documents are studied and verified, my client will be in a position to comment if justified. The family deny any wrongdoing or paying any amounts to ministers or the President and reserve its rights,” Van der Merwe said.

The emails have since been released by TimesLive.

One of the emails allegedly shows a letter from Zuma to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. Part of the letter reads: "... I am happy to inform you that my family has decided to make the UAE, and specifically Dubai, a second home."

On Saturday Zuma denied the claim, saying his only home was in Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal.

On Monday Zuma has to give reasons in the Pretoria High Court for his midnight Cabinet reshuffle, one of the reasons his future at the Union Buildings hangs in the balance.

Also on Monday the ANC will hold a media briefing on the outcomes of the meeting of the NEC at Luthuli House at 2pm.

By late Sunday night, it appeared that the only decision taken at the meeting was to form a 10-man sub-committee to discuss Zuma’s fate.

A source told Independent Media: “It was not decided how the committee would be formed. Neither was there any finalisation of its composition.”

The motion against Zuma, who will face MPs on Wednesday for the presidency’s budget, was tabled by the ANC’s policy guru Joel Netshitenzhe on Saturday.

The move was supported by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and his deputy Joe Phaahla, axed tourism minister Derek Hanekom and NEC member Sue van der Merwe, according to sources.

IOL

Related Topics: