Johannesburg - A butler for VIP guests who claimed to be helping to organise the Gupta wedding is alleged to have tried to recruit only white waiters to serve the wedding party at Sun City.
According to a well-placed source, an on-call butler at the Michelangelo Towers hotel in Sandton, Andre Hattingh, approached an events management company saying he required “20 white female waiters” from April 28 to May 3. He indicated that full training and all meals would be provided.
The source claims that the waiters were expected to work 12-hour shifts and would be transported by bus to the event, which was not identified in the e-mail. They were to be paid about R20 to R25 an hour, well below the standard rate.
Hattingh refused to comment yesterday saying he had “signed a confidentiality clause so I cannot help you”.
A spokesperson for the Guptas, Haranath Ghosh, said: “At no stage was the family involved in the recruitment of any staff. In the main, Sun City was asked to ensure we had adequate resources available. In cases where we need additional resources, we engage third parties to hire the appropriate additional resources to complement the existing Sun City staff.
“Our commitment to employment equity goes beyond the legal requirements towards our moral obligation. This applies to both our business and private lives.”
The source, who provided a copy of some correspondence from Hattingh, claimed Hattingh had approached a well-connected events management company in late March, asking whether it could provide “young, white, female waiters” for six days from Sunday, April 28 to Friday, May 3. Hattingh had revealed that he was working on “behalf of the Guptas”, according to the source.
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said it confirmed what the labour federation’s members at Sun City had told them. “It’s clear evidence of racism,” he said.
Last week, Cosatu said that wedding guests at Sun City had asked for white chauffeurs and cleaning room staff.
One of the service providers at the wedding insisted he had seen both black and white staff tending to guests. He said that while it was clear that the Guptas and their guests “definitely like females”, he was not sure it was race-related.
Meanwhile, Government Communication and Information System spokesperson Phumla Williams said the government was not likely to comment on the Gupta saga before Wednesday.
She also said it was not clear whether the report by the director-generals tasked with investigating the matter would be made public.
She said the report had been commissioned by ministers, and the government would advise how it would proceed only once they had received it. - Saturday Star