No evidence of Gupta graft, says Duduzane

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane says there is no evidence suggesting he and the Gupta family were guilty of corruption.

“People are innocent until proven guilty. I challenge you – take me to court if you think you have a case‚” he says in an open letter to former finance minister Pravin Gordhan.

An investigation by the Hawks found no wrongdoing‚ whistleblowers failed to produce evidence when asked by the ANC and there were no conclusive findings by the public protector’s report on state capture, he said in the letter published on Monday.

It was written as the Gupta family were selling various assets to focus on clearing their names.

The letter questions whether or not there is a case against Duduzane Zuma and the Gupta family. There is‚ according to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), which has laid charges of treason‚ racketeering‚ extortion‚ fraud and forgery against them.

An affidavit to police by Outa alleged that the Gupta brothers and Duduzane ran a substantial business empire‚ linked to illegal state capture‚ benefiting by billions of rand in allegedly illegitimate deals facilitated by compliant ministers and state officials.

Those named in the affidavit as being linked to the group included:

● Jacinto Rocha‚ a senior official in the Department of Mineral Resources who is alleged to have helped the Guptas and Duduzane gain lucrative mining rights;

● Gloria Bongi Ngema-Zuma‚ one of the president’s wives, who in an allegedly hidden transaction‚ was helped by the Guptas to buy a R5.4-million house in Waterkloof Ridge in Pretoria; and

● Duduzile Zuma‚ the twin sister of Duduzane and the president’s daughter, who allegedly spent 13 months as a director of a Gupta company. — DDC