MPs turn up the heat on Hawks over Guptas

ANGRY MPs have warned the Hawks and other law enforcement agencies to step up their hunt for the Guptas, who are believed to be on the run from prosecution in Dubai.

Appearing before Parliament’s police portfolio committee, newly-installed Hawks head Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya said the unit was investigating eight cases of state capture involving billions of rands.

He said statements were taken from witnesses in some cases.

This was in response to MPs expressing exasperation at the slow pace of state capture investigations, months after the Gupta brothers fled the country.

The Hawks were also on the receiving end of criticism for not cracking the Steinhoff case.

However, the unit said it had employed audit firms to examine a huge number of complex and intricate documents related to transactions at Steinhoff.

Lebeya said the unit’s capacity to deal with complex financial cases was being improved. The ANC’s Phindile Molla said the Hawks needed more investigators with financial skills.

MPs said action should have been taken against former Free State premier, and current ANC secretary-general, Ace Magashule, and former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane for their role in the Estina dairy project.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane was forced by the National Assembly committee on justice and correctional services to re-open her investigation into Estina and probe the roles of Magashule and Zwane.

Lebeya said he did not want to name the people being investigated except for those who had been charged and appeared in court.

Several officials who worked for the Guptas and the Free State government are on trial in Bloemfontein.

Phillip Mhlongo of the EFF said the government waited for too long before acting against the Guptas.

He said what happened embarrassed and shamed the nation.

The DA’s Zakhele Mbhele, and Mhlongo, said the police knew Magashule and Zwane were linked to the Estina scandal, and asked why they had not been charged.

They accused the Hawks of going after “easy targets” while avoiding politicians.