Family gives its side of the state capture story

The Gupta family patriarch, Ajay, has for the first time provided insight into their side of the state capture story in his bid to cross-examine the inquiry witnesses who implicated him.

Though Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo was not convinced and dismissed the family’s application to crossexamine, a series of affidavits filed by the Guptas have given riveting details of some their encounters with the inquiry’s witnesses.

“I have no reluctance whatsoever, and am in fact very keen, to participate in the proceedings before the commission …. The whole issue of state capture seems to be very much focused on me and the companies with which I am associated,” said Ajay in his affidavit.

“I, in particular, have very pertinent information to impart to the commission under oath, and upon which I am prepared to be cross-examined.”

The Gupta family’s application was to cross-examine former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas, former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor and former Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) head Themba Maseko.

Ajay Gupta denies ever meeting with Jonas.

He also completely denies ever meeting Mentor, and has described her claims that he offered her the position of public enterprises minister as “fiction”.

He admits meeting and phoning Maseko, but denies ever doing so to bully him into channelling R600m in government advertising to the family’s media organisations.

The inquiry’s lawyers slammed Ajay’s affidavits as containing nothing but “bald denials”.

The documents submitted to Zondo, however, do contain a number of very specific claims.

In a 42-page affidavit Ajay denies:

● Offering Mentor the job of public enterprises minister, saying his family never had an interest in Jet Airlines, which she claims was the basis for Ajay’s offer.

● Mentor claimed Ajay Gupta then told her that former president Jacob Zuma would reshuffle his cabinet, including then minister Barbara Hogan. Ajay denies that he ever said this, or had any knowledge of such a reshuffle;

● Mentor met with Zuma at his family’s Saxonwold, Johanneburg, home, as she testified, and attached photographs of the notorious compound to his affidavit to contest her description of the house. While Mentor