MPs to focus on Guptas’ citizenship

Home Affairs committee wants report on family’s SA applications

THE early naturalisation of the Guptas will come under the spotlight this week when the Home Affairs portfolio committee receives a report from parliamentary researchers and legal services.

A few months ago the committee researcher and legal services were tasked to undertake a preliminary investigation that would determine the type of inquiry Parliament would pursue into the controversial family.

Chairman Hlomane Chauke said yesterday the committee had been dealing with peripheral issues on how some of the Gupta family acquired South African citizenship.

“We are to go deeper. How many of them are here, how they came to the country, and what kind of document did they apply for when they came to the country. That is the information we want,” he said.

Chauke said the committee would receive a report on the documents the committee researcher and legal services requested from state institutions.

“There must be a paper trail of everything that has been applied for.

“That kind of information is what we want,” he said.

In May, the committee heard that work still needed to be done in collecting and analysing information used by the Home Affairs Department to grant the Guptas citizenship.

At the time information from the home affairs, labour and North West education departments was still outstanding.

The placement of advertisements in newspapers calling on the public to make submissions and a trip to conduct interviews had not been authorised.

Chauke said it was crucial that the committee obtained the information, which included details of a panel established to deal with the Guptas’ citizenship applications.

“We want to get to know who are the people who were involved and look at the way to call them to testify.

“That information is to help us a lot as to the kind of approach we are to take”

He also said there were days already set aside in the coming weeks when people would be called to testify before the inquiry.

“There are two or three days we have put aside. Definitely, we are getting into that process,” Chauke said. He would not give the exact dates because he did not have the committee’s programme on hand.

DA MP Haniff Hoosen said he expected all records used by the department to make the decision on the Guptas’ application to be produced so that the committee could make a determination.

Hoosen said his party was cautiously optimistic of the ANC’s willingness to get to the bottom of Gupta saga.

“Although there have been attempts to prevent the investigation, we got a new chairperson and the ANC took a different approach. “Let’s see how it goes,” he said. Hoosen also said the DA would support the Gupta naturalisation probe as long it was an open process.