Zuma in Zondo hot seat
Revelations of the role of Jacob Zuma’s son, Duduzane, in deals with the Guptas will be probed today as he testifies at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
Revelations of role of Zuma’s son in deals with Guptas have been made by witnesses at commission.
The watershed Saxonwold encounter four years ago between the Guptas and former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas, at which Jonas was offered R600 million if he accepted the position of finance minister, is expected to have a sequel at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture today when former president Jacob Zuma’s twin son Duduzane appears before Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
Besides having been implicated in evidence given by Jonas at the inquiry, Duduzane – a Gupta business partner who maintained strong business ties with the family during his father’s reign as president – was also fingered in testimonies given by former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor and former Africa News Network (ANN7) television editor Rajesh Sundaram, for having assisted the infamous family, who became central in the state capture project in South Africa.
Seen as among several attempts to take over National Treasury, Duduzane facilitated the October 2015 meeting with the Guptas that saw Jonas declining the offer of being installed as minister of finance.
In going public, Jonas went public with revelations that Duduzane and businessman Fana Hlongwane were present at the Saxonwold Gupta family compound where the incident occurred.
From mining to media, revelations of Duduzane’s involvement in multi-billion rand deals with the Guptas have been made by witnesses before Zondo, with the Jonas claims having sparked tensions within the ANC.
In his testimony last August, Jonas painted a picture of a desperate Duduzane, who pulled out all stops to ensure that the Gupta meeting took place.
Recalling a sequence of events, Jonas told Zondo that it began with:
Hlongwane meeting Jonas in Johannesburg to repeat Duduzane’s request for a conversation, stressing the importance of the Guptas.
A telephone conversation on October 17, 2015, in which Duduzane extended an invitation to Jonas to attend the ANN7 South African of the Year Awards, which Jonas declined due to a busy schedule.
An October 23, 2015, meeting between Duduzane and Jonas at the Hyatt Hotel in Rosebank at which – according to Jonas – “he (Duduzane) appeared quite nervous and spoke in vague terms”.
Jonas driving in Duduzane’s two-door Mercedes Benz to what Duduzane described as “a more private place nearby to discuss important matters”, which turned out to be the Gupta family compound in Saxonwold.
It was at that meeting that Jonas learnt Zuma planned to fire Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister and was told that “the old man likes me”.
He was also told the Guptas were “in control of everything, including the National Prosecuting Authority, the Hawks and National Intelligence”.
In offering the R600 million, Ajay Gupta told Jonas the Guptas “worked closely with a number of people” who included former public enterprises minister Lynne Brown and former Transnet group chief executive officer Brian Molefe.
Duduzane, who is expected to put his version before the commission, is expected to shed light on the goings-on at the Gupta family home, where Mentor also claimed to have been offered a position of public enterprises minister if she scrapped the lucrative SA Airways Johannesburg-Mumbai route, which was later taken over by the Gupta-linked Jet Airways under Malusi Gigaba as political head of the department.
Senior counsel Piet Louw, who cross examined Jonas in March on evidence implicating Duduzane, was yesterday not available for comment.
Duduzane’s phone was off, while Louw failed to respond to calls from The Citizen.
– brians@citizen.co.za
The Guptas were ‘in control of everything’