Johannesburg – Gupta-owned Oakbay Investments, which is
embroiled in a legal battle with Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan, says it
will continue to fight his legal bid.
The company’s acting CEO, Ronica Ragavan, said in a
statement on Wednesday, that the group will continue to argue for Gordhan’s
application to be dismissed.
Its statement follows a Tuesday preliminary decision in
which the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled that mention made in the
minister’s court papers of 72 suspicious transactions involving the Gupta
family and their companies, had to be “striken out” of the papers.
Oakbay Investments wanted the court to strike out a
certificate issued by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) referring to 72
transactions involving the Guptas and companies affiliated to them.
These transactions were cited in Gordhan’s application in
which he seeks a declaratory order that he has no powers to intervene in the
relationship between banks and its clients. That move came after several of SA’s
largest banks closed accounts of Gupta-linked companies, which the family –
last August – claimed threatened the livelihood of thousands of staff.
Later, the family said it never disputed that Gordhan
didn’t have the power to intervene in banking repaltionships.
The Guptas have argued that these transactions are
irrelevant to Gordhan's court application.
Read also: Standard Bank to state its case in Gordhan court matter
Ragavan says, in a statement, that the company has “suffered
unjustified and severe reputational damage as a result of the minister’s
application. His [Gordhan’s] inclusion of the FIC report and Deputy Minister
Jonas’ affidavit, which were both struck off yesterday, clearly demonstrate the
motives that sit behind the application.
“We will continue to argue in court for this unnecessary
application, which is a waste of taxpayers’ money and the court’s time, to be
dismissed. As the architect of the application and the campaign to smear
Oakbay, if anyone is to withdraw it should be the minister.”
The court case started a day after Gordhan was summonsed
home from an international roadshow to the US and UK to sway investors. His
recall, by President Jacob Zuma, sparked fears of a Cabinet reshuffle and saw the
rand plunge.
The usual Cabinet meeting has now been postponed.
Ragavan adds the company still wants details of the
so-called suspicious transactions so it can prove its innocence. It has
repeatedly denied that there is anything untoward in the dealings.
“For months we have said the list of 72 transactions has
been a tool to smear our name and drive unsubstantiated negative media coverage
of our business and our shareholders. When attached to a totally unnecessary
application, with no contested legal issue, it becomes clear what the Finance
Minister is up to.
One of the deals involves a R1.3 billion transaction.
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