Guptas take off

The hasty sale of some of the Gupta family’s South African assets has sparked fears this week among parliamentarians that the controversial family is preparing to flee the country.

But Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that the family would have no place to hide from possible prosecution.

He was responding to concerns that the Guptas were offloading their assets ahead of their apparent departure out of the country to escape prosecution.

The family recently sold its media businesses, ANN7 and The New

Age newspaper, to former government spokesperson Mzwanele “Jimmy” Manyi for R450 million, which is believed to have been entirely funded through vendor financing.

It was further reported this week that the Gupta brothers recently finalised the sale of mining company Tegeta Exploration and Resources to a little-known Swiss company specialising in fashion for R2.9 billion.

Former finance minister Pravin Gordhan told a parliamentary portfolio committee that an investigation into the disposal of the assets should begin urgently.

“We should have our urgency fuelled by the successive disposals within 48 hours of South African assets,” Gordhan said. He stressed that the crime of state capture was at stake. –