‘Duduzane had influence over JZ’
E-mail shows son set up meeting for Zuma with Russian
The first evidence has emerged of Duduzane Zuma’s role as a middleman between his father and international entities‚ with leaked e-mails showing he brokered a meeting between President Jacob Zuma and a private Russian investment company.
According to the leaked emails, Russian investment company Sistema Joint Stock Financial Corporation contacted Duduzane on December 23 2014‚ requesting assistance in setting up a meeting between its chairman Vladimir Evtushenkov and Zuma in Davos‚Switzerland.
It said Evtushenkov would be in Davos on January 21 and 22‚ the same time the World Economic Forum annual meeting took place. Zuma was also expected to be in Davos at the same time.
There has long been speculation about Duduzane’s role in providing access to Zuma and the influence he wields over his father’s decision making.
Constitutional experts say there is no problem with the president meeting companies and businesses‚ but if Duduzane is benefitting from the meetings it could be a conflict of interest. Duduzane did not respond to phone calls and an SMS requesting comment. The Presidency had also not responded to requests for comment by yesterday afternoon.
According to the e-mails‚ Duduzane responded on January 1‚ informing Sistema managing director, Evgeniy Chuikov, that he was in India and would be heading to the US‚ but as soon he was back in SA he would “follow up with the matter in discussion”.
On January 27 2015‚ Chuikov sent Duduzane another e-mail thanking him for setting up the meeting with Zuma for Evtushenkov.
“We met in Davos and had a very productive and warm catch up‚” he wrote. Chuikov proceeded to give Duduzane a rundown of what was discussed‚ which included the topic of possible investment in SA, particularly in health care and “smart city” technologies.
Sistema did not respond to emailed questions.