Guptas’ fong kong Nene letter to China
Gupta link to ‘fake letter by minister’
Gupta-linked business associates penned and peddled a letter in the name of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene – who has labelled it a “fake/fabrication” – related to the funding of Transnet’s multibillion-rand locomotive procurement project.
Sowetan’s sister newspaper The Times has found the letter in the hundreds of thousands of leaked Gupta e-mails.
The letter, written in Nene’s name, was addressed to the China Development Bank board chairman Hu Huaibang in January 2015.
In June 2015, Transnet’s chief executive Siyabonga Gama, then acting CEO, announced at a World Economic Forum press conference that the bank had agreed to a R30billion loan, nearly the exact amount paid to Chinese companies who won the majority of the tender, China South Rail and North China Rail.
The e-mail’s metadata shows that the letter was actually written by Tewodros Gebreselasie, a senior economic adviser with Regiments Capital.
Regiments is an investment company involved in the now controversial Transnet project worth over R50-billion.
The Guptas reportedly received over R5-billion in alleged kickbacks from China South Rail, which was awarded the bulk of the contract.
Nene said the letter was “clearly a fake/fabrication and could not have come from my office”.
Nene said what baffled him was how and why this letter had ended up in the in-tray of Gupta associates.
“It’s worrisome. I do not understand it. It says a great deal about confidentiality, especially between the department and state-owned entities,” Nene said.
“It’s worrying as it could implicate you as a minister of finance. This is completely unacceptable and the [Treasury] department must apply its mind to this.”
Gebreselasie then sent the letter to former Transnet chief financial officer Anoj Singh – now Eskom CFO – on January 20 2015 and copied former Regiments director, Eric Wood, his boss. Wood had instructed Gebreselasie to write the e-mail
Wood then forwarded the email to Gupta associate Salim Essa who in turn e-mailed it to Gupta-owned Sahara computers chief executive Ashu Chawla.
Neither Essa nor Chawla responded to requests for comment.
Wood declined to comment on why he sent the e-mail to Essa, but said he had acted in the best interests of Transnet, Regiments’ client at the time.
Wood said Singh had requested him to draft the letter.
“It was not signed by anybody, it was supposed to be there as proposed wording …”
Singh said: “I do not recall this letter … We wouldn’t have signed the letter on his [the finance minister’s] behalf. That would be fraud.
“CDB [China Development Bank] still need to come back to me in writing, but don’t seem to have such a letter on record.”
Regiments executive chairman Litha Nhyonhya said: “It appears the letter was written at the behest of our then client, Transnet. We are not privy to its background …”