JZ dared over UAE villa

DA CHALLENGE: PRESIDENT MUST SUE NEWSPAPER IF STORY IS FALSE

Maimane says such allegations are way too serious to brush off via a press release.

The Democratic Alliance has challenged President Jacob Zuma to take legal action against the Sunday Times over the “Dubai palace” story. “In response to the story on the front page of [yesterday’s] Sunday Times – which claims that leaked e-mails show the Guptas have purchased a R330-million mansion in Dubai for Jacob Zuma – the presidency wasted no time in releasing a statement calling the claims ‘a fabrication’,” DA leader Mmusi Maimane said yesterday.

“The claims made in the story are not trivial and go to the very nub of state capture by the notorious Gupta family. The allegations are serious and cannot simply be dismissed via a press release.

“Therefore, if the story is in fact false – as the presidency claims – the DA challenges the president to take legal action against the newspaper for publishing false and defamatory information about him and his good friends, the Gupta brothers,” Maimane said.

In a statement earlier, the presidency denied the report that Zuma “owns a palace” in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“The story in the Sunday Times newspaper [yesterday] that President Jacob Zuma owns a ‘palace’ in Dubai is a fabrication,” Zuma’s spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said in a statement.

Zuma did not own any property outside South Africa and had not “requested anybody to buy property for him abroad”. Zuma had also not received or seen the reported e-mails and had no knowledge of them, Ngqulunga said.

Maimane said that if Zuma had nothing to hide then he should proceed with legal action in this matter.

That way, evidence could be brought from both and the people of South Africa would be afforded the truth in this matter.

“If the president fails to do so we can only assume the content of the story to be true – and that his ANC has sold this country to the Gupta family for profit.

“It has become part and parcel of Zuma’s presidency to deny involvement in hugely controversial and potentially corrupt matters, only for it to emerge later that the president had, in fact, been intimately involved.

“The full-scale capture of our country by the Guptas must be stopped with immediate effect. The DA will continue to use all avenues necessary – including parliament and the justice system – to stop this rot,” Maimane said.

The Sunday Times reported that the Guptas had bought him a luxurious Dubai mansion.

“Zuma’s home is Villa L35 on Lailak Street in Emirates Hills, billed as the ‘most expensive postal code’ in a city so flashy that the police drive Bugattis,” the newspaper reported.

The palatial home came complete with 10 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a double grand staircase, nine reception rooms, and space for 11 cars. The top-of-the-range fittings featured an excess of marble, mosaic, and gold.

“During a Sunday Times investigative trip to Dubai last year, several independent sources told the newspaper the Guptas had bought Zuma a R330 million retirement home in the upmarket suburb of Emirates Hills in 2015, the same year that Duduzane Zuma [Zuma’s son] bought an apartment for R18 million in the Burj Khalifa.”

The sources included businessmen with companies or homes in Dubai, senior ANC officials, and people close to the Zuma family, the newspaper reported.

“At the time the Sunday Times could only confirm that the Guptas had bought the house. The fact that the house was for Zuma has now apparently been confirmed in the leaked Gupta e-mails.”

Last week the Sunday Times reported on two draft letters Tony Gupta first circulated to Sahara CEO Ashu Chawla and then to Zuma’s son, Duduzane, which appeared to suggest Zuma was planning to relocate to Dubai.

Both were addressed to His Highness Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and appeared to be drafts prepared for Zuma’s signature and bearing his name. A third draft has emerged, listing the villa as Zuma’s house, the Sunday Times reported.

“I am happy to inform you that my family has decided to make the UAE, and specifically Dubai, a second home and have already acquired a residence located at Emirates Hills, Dubai (Villa No L-35, Lailak Street No1),” said the third draft letter, according to the newspaper. – ANA