‘ANC did not protect Guptas’

ANC national chairperson and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has defended the governing party against claims that it sought to protect the controversial Gupta family.

Mantashe, who is the first senior ANC leader to testify at the commission headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, said the party intervened in the Guptas’ battle with the country’s four major banks to stop “white monopoly capital” from exercising its power over black business.

The former ANC secretary-general told the commission that he wanted to clarify the confusion of the banks in relation to the meetings the party had with them about the closure of accounts belonging to the Guptas and companies related to the family.

Mantashe said the ANC got involved in the Guptas’ battle with the banks after coming under pressure from various groups, including the Black Business Council as well as Oakbay Investments, a company owned by the controversial family.

The ANC was then forced to seek

clarity on the workings of the banks, according to Mantashe.

He said the party then set up a series of meetings with the banks that had closed the Guptas’ accounts over dodgy transactions. Its delegation included deputy secretarygeneral Jessie Duarte, national executive committee member Enoch Godongwana and legal adviser Krish Naidoo.

Mantashe said the ANC later returned to the Guptas’ Oakbay Investments and informed the company that “people must comply with rules and regulations”.

Oakbay had complained that there was a risk that thousands of jobs would be lost following the banks’ move, but the ANC appeared unconvinced following its meetings with the banks.

“We deal with the good and the bad in society,” said Mantashe when asked about the ANC’s decision to meet Oakbay despite the company facing serious allegations of impropriety.

He also confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa would make the ANC’s next submission at the commission.

Mantashe dealt with the submissions made earlier in the commission by the four major banks.

He also promised the commission that Duarte was prepared to testify after she was implicated by some witnesses, including former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor and former public enterprises minister Barbara Hogan.

Mantashe also disclosed that he never met members of the controversial Gupta family on his own.

Mantashe said he had met members of the family at the governing party’s headquarters, Luthuli House, in Joburg, when they were setting up their newspaper, The New Age.

“I’ve never met the Guptas on my own,” Mantashe said.