Manyi in Gupta job hunt
E-mails reveal he asked for employment for himself, friend
Mzwanele Jimmy Manyi approached the controversial Gupta family seeking positions for himself and an unwitting former colleague at state-owned companies.
Manyi, who is a backer of the family, forwarded his CV and that of attorney Xoliswa Mpongoshe to the family in May 2014.
This is revealed in the leaked e-mails that detail the extent to which the Gupta family has captured politicians and state entities.
Mpongoshe was shocked when approached yesterday, saying: “Oh my goodness ... There was a time when ... I’m not sure if it was Eskom or Transnet, were busy with changes to their board.
“He (Manyi) called me ... (and) it was like ‘Can you send me your CV, they need people with a legal background who are particularly strong in governance’.
“So I sent him my CV and there was nothing since then, but I had no idea he was going to give it to the Guptas,” she said.
“I don’t know the Guptas. I’ve never met them. He never even talked about them to me to be honest,” she said.
She was not appointed to the board. Manyi said yesterday: “I have absolutely no recollection of what you are talking about. If you think there was any wrongdoing, please do not hesitate to report to the police or whoever.”
In both the e-mails, sent a little more than an hour apart from Manyi’s Gmail account to Sahara CEO Ashu Chawla, he mentions “as discussed with Tony (Gupta)” and then attaches the two CVs.
Although the e-mails are not explicit about what jobs are sought, it is clear there was an expectation of employment.
“He never even came back to me after that ...” said Mpongoshe.
“I used to work with Jimmy a long time ago at the People’s Bank. I then got involved, through him and Lot Ndlovu, with the BMF (Black Management Forum) and I assisted there.”
Mpongoshe, an attorney with a twodecade long track record, was up until December, company secretary for state oil company PetroSA. The former Telkom executive has also served as company secretary at Sanlam, and assistant company secretary at People’s Bank.