Hawks’ eerie silence on Gupta files

‘State capture’ whistle-blower faces criminal case yet three reports implicating the Guptas stall

The Hawks have wasted no time in pursuing the whistle-blower who exposed the Gupta hand in “Nenegate” — yet the elite police unit denied any knowledge of a string of corruption reports involving the controversial family.

The whistle-blower’s protected disclosure to the public protector entailed explosive detail of state capture, foreknowledge that finance minister Nhlanhla Nene would be replaced by ANC backbencher Des Van Rooyen in December 2015, and how the Gupta family and their business associates allegedly lined up deals to cash in on it.

Barely one month after former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report into the scandal was released, the whistleblower’s former employer, financial advisory company Trillian Capital Partners, opened a criminal case against her. Trillian, majority owned by the alleged Gupta lieutenant Salim Essa, is central to the allegations of state capture.

Days after the case was opened, the Hawks asked her lawyers for a warning statement. A warning statement is usually a prelude to being criminally charged — an indication that the investigation is at an advanced stage and nearing its end.

The whistle-blower may not be named in terms of an order from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. Her lawyer, Daniel Witz, said they “understood that the criminal complaint against her includes allegations of fraud and contravention of the Electronic Communications Act, although we have not been formally presented with the charges yet”.

Witz said he found it “surprising” that his client was asked for a warning statement at “this early stage of the investigation”.

At the same time it seems that the Hawks have, for up to 18 months, been ignoring three damning reports fingering the Gupta family and their business partners for corruption.

On Thursday Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said: “We are not aware of the three reports as indicated in your inquiry.”

But the reports were handed to the Hawks in terms of section 34 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (Precca). The Act requires any person in a position of authority with knowledge about criminal activities to report them to the relevant authorities. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.

They were submitted to the Hawks in August 2015, July 2016 and November 2016.

The Precca reports implicate the Guptas, Essa and their associates in corruption, fraud, a blatant scheme using The New Age as a money-laundering vehicle and the fleecing of state resources. The reports attach evidence, which allegedly backs the claims.

The allegations have previously been denied by Essa and the Gupta