Johannesburg - Former president Jacob Zuma cast further doubt on the legitimacy of the testimony at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture delivered by ANC member of parliament Vytjie Mentor last year.
Zuma denied meeting her at the Guptas' Saxonwold compound and on an international trip to China as Mentor had indicated.
We look at some of the key points of Mentor’s testimony that were disputed by Zuma when he appeared before the commission this week.
Refusing to meet Zuma in China
Mentor claimed that on a trip to China, which Zuma was also a part of, the former president had sent a message requesting to see her and she claimed to deny the invitation. Her testimony before the commission earlier this year came under the spotlight after the commission’s investigators could authenticate her claims about refusing to meet with Zuma on an international trip to China and her description of the Guptas' Saxonwold compound.
Earlier this week Zuma he was in the dark about the issue around requesting to meet Mentor in China.
Ministerial job offer in Zuma’s presence at Gupta residence
Despite Mentor’s claims that she was offered a ministerial position to become Public Enterprises Minister by the Guptas at their Saxonwold compound while Zuma was in the next room, the former president flatly denied the allegations when appearing before the commission saying that he had no recollection of the incident.
Fana Hlongwane
Although this did not implicate Zuma directly, it did implicate his son. A case of mistaken identity saw Mentor incriminate businessman Fana Hlongwane after claiming in her testimony that she had been introduced to Hlongwane by Zuma’s son, Duduzane, while on a flight in 2010. She would later admit to misidentifying Hlongwane and confusing him with former Gauteng Health MEC Brian Hlongwa after she had viewed Hlongwane pictures on the internet.
Political Bureau
