Johannesburg – A former pastor who has since resigned from the ministry wrote to the Guptas asking for funding of more than R200 000 to be deposited into his personal bank account for an ANC Youth League activity.
Nkosana Mtolo, who is a member of the Gauteng ANCYL provincial executive committee, wrote to Ajay Gupta on March 4, 2014 requesting that he fund the league’s charity drive in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni “as part of your social responsibility”.
According to the leaked Gupta emails, which The Star has seen, Mtolo instructed Gupta to deposit the money into his personal Nedbank account.
At the time, Mtolo was serving as the league’s branch secretary of ward 69.
On Monday, he told The Star that the Guptas did not respond to his email request, nor had the other corporate citizens he had written to.
He said the money had to be deposited into his bank account due to a resolution of the league.
“Our branch had no bank account at the time, so it was resolved that any money should be deposited into the bank account of the branch chairperson, secretary or treasurer,” he said.
He vehemently denied that he was a Gupta agent.
“We are revolutionaries, we are not puppets of anybody. We need to address the structural problems in our society.
“Unfortunately, we are drawn into discussing one family.
“We are not speaking out against the construction cartel or the bank collusion.”
He warned against the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture, saying it must not paint President Jacob Zuma as a compromised leader.
“That’s not correct. We welcome the inquiry, the president must move with speed in establishing it.”
Last week, the ANC national executive committee resolved that a judicial commission of inquiry be established to look into the phenomenon.
Mtolo said he resigned as a pastor in 2013 for personal reasons, and stressed that the reasons had nothing to do with politics. His story is the latest to suggest the emails are credible, despite the Guptas dismissing them as “fake news”.
It mirrors that of Police Minister Fikile Mbalula’s former spokesperson Anda Bici, who also approached the Guptas asking for funding, according to the leaked emails.
Bici wrote to Atul Gupta in June 2014 and asked for funding for an ANCYL project totalling R6.3million.
The spin doctor, known as a fixer in ANC circles, reportedly confirmed the email, saying, however, that the project never took off.
“It is a general phenomenon to ask for sponsorship of businessmen and women,” Bici said.