South Africa to probe citizenship of Guptas

A South African parliamentary panel has said a full-scale investigation would be initiated into the citizenship status of the Gupta family members, who are closely linked to former President Jacob Zuma.

The move comes after the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) wrote a letter to the chairperson of the South African Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, requesting a probe following home minister Malusi Gigaba’s controversial remarks about the citizenship of the Gupta family members.

The committee will institute a full-scale parliamentary inquiry into the Gupta family’s citizenship, sources said.

The House chairperson of committees in Parliament, Cedric Frolick, had instructed the chairpersons of portfolio committees to institute inquiries into alleged state capture probes on June 15 last year, but these have been delayed for various reasons.

The DA had alleged that more Gupta family members were granted South African citizenship but this was never reported to Parliament.

The Guptas, who arrived in South Africa from their home town of Saharanpur in India about two decades ago, amassed a huge fortune through companies in the IT, media and mining sectors, allegedly through their closeness to Zuma. PTI

JOHANNESBURG: