Johannesburg – There is an ongoing obsession with the controversial Gupta family in South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) said on Thursday.
“The risk about this obsession with the Guptas is that we miss the bigger picture in the economy, such as British company Anglo American pulling out investments in the country or Mondi listing outside of South Africa…no one is talking about all that because it is not a Gupta matter,” secretary Gwede Mantashe told reporters at a briefing in Johannesburg.
Read: Duarte ‘didn’t get son-in-law a job’
He added that the obsession had seen President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane being mentioned along with the Gupta businesses every time the Guptas were talked about.
“Where should Duduzane be? He can’t do business in heaven. I do not subscribe to the notion that politicians’ families are just their extension and that the families and relatives do not have a life of their own…that is a sick narrative that is going to destroy people.
Read: ‘I’m sorry for helping to bring Zuma to power’
“The Gupta family and Duduzane are no big deal,” he said.
Mantashe confirmed reports that the party has had a series of meetings with Gupta-owned companies since Monday.
However, Mantashe said the ANC did not meet with the family, but with those who run their companies.
Read: #SONAdebate: Zuma told to resign
“We discussed the economy, their role and the businesses. We did not have a meeting with the family, but with their companies.”
The companies’ executives shed light on acquisitions, such as the controversial purchase of Optimum, which they explained was above board. They told the ANC that their offer to purchase was the best and commercially viable, said Mantashe.
The Gupta family, whom Zuma acknowledges as friends and are business partners of Duduzane, was believed to be influencing decision-making in the country, including the contested nuclear power expansion programme.
Some of the leaders in the tri-partite alliance have come out to complain about the family’s closeness to Zuma and their perceived influence.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has announced it would start a “political campaign” against the family, and even recently demanded that they leave the country, in the process coining the term “Zuptas” to signify the close bond between Zuma and the family.
African News Agency
* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.