Cape Times

No room to hide for Zuma’s son

- Ben Theron Outa COO

THE Organisati­on Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) is pleased that the first accused emanating from its No Room to Hide report has appeared in court on charges relating to his involvemen­t with the Gupta family’s plot to bribe former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas.

Duduzane Zuma, who is mentioned 103 times in the report No Room to Hide (excluding annexures), has appeared in the Johannesbu­rg Specialise­d Commercial Crimes Court.

“It is about time that we begin to see our charges and allegation­s on state interferen­ce by the Gupta family taken seriously.

“Duduzane was the first person Outa laid charges against for state capture.

“He is a central figure in our report, which outlines the links between the Gupta and Zuma families,” said Ben Theron, Outa’s chief operating officer.

In April 2017, Outa started investigat­ing and documentin­g the reality and extent of former president Jacob Zuma’s conduct and connection to state capture.

In June 2017, Outa submitted its report to Parliament requesting them to investigat­e these matters and in August that year, Outa laid charges of treason, racketeeri­ng, extortion, fraud and forgery against Zuma and the Gupta brothers in connection with allegation­s of state capture.

These allegation­s were directly linked to Zuma’s role in attempting to influence Jonas to take up the position of finance minister along and a wad of cash (R600 million according to Jonas).

Outa’s No Room To Hide report, which was made possible by its contributi­ng supporters, has been a vital source in nailing corrupt officials and in various parliament­ary inquiries (including the Eskom inquiry).

Outa is a proudly South African civil action organisati­on that is purely crowd funded. Our work is supported by ordinary citizens who are passionate about holding the government accountabl­e and ensuring our taxes are used to the benefit of all South Africans.

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