Maseko set to spill beans on Ajay
“My brother, there are these Gupta guys who need to meet you and who need your help. Please help them.”
This alleged statement by former president Jacob Zuma will be at the centre of the testimony that is expected to be given on Wednesday by former Government Communication and Information System head Themba Maseko to the Zondo commission of inquiry investigating state capture.
Maseko is expected to provide evidence of how the Guptas, with Zuma’s assistance, allegedly tried to force him to redirect R600m of government advertising to the New Age newspaper.
The Sunday Times previously reported that Maseko’s testimony submitted to the commission details how in 2010, en route to a meeting with Ajay Gupta, Zuma called Maseko to tell him to help them.
He will further detail how Ajay tried to bully him when he objected to their demands.
Maseko was fired from his position in early 2011 and the commission has asked Zuma whether he instructed Maseko’s dismissal because he refused to assist the Guptas.
Based on Maseko’s testimony, it is understood Zuma will have to answer whether he used his office to enrich or tried to facilitate deals for himself or the Guptas.
Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas and former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor have told the commission headed by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo that the Guptas threatened them when they refused to co-operate with their demands.
Maseko is expected to add weight to this by detailing his own interactions with Ajay.
The former cabinet spokesperson’s testimony will form the basis of the commission’s work in investigating whether taxpayers’ money was diverted to the Guptas’ companies irregularly.
On Tuesday, Zondo ordered the commission’s legal team to intervene to secure the safety of Mentor‚ after she told him she was afraid her hotel room had been tampered with.
A tearful Mentor informed the judge at the end of her second day of testimony on Tuesday that she did not want to be alarmist‚ but she had discovered two nights before that the latch on her hotel room door was not working.
Mentor said she alerted the hotel staff that her room was unable to lock and they told her that it had been fixed.
She said she went back to her room on Tuesday morning as she had forgotten her glasses – and found the door would not open with her key card.
When she turned the handle, the door opened freely.
Mentor told the judge she did not know what awaited her when she went back to her room after being at the commission the whole day.
A sympathetic Zondo thanked Mentor for bringing the matter to his attention and said she was right to be concerned considering that she had implicated a number of people in her testimony.
He asked commission secretary Khotso de Wee and legal team head advocate Paul Pretorius to ensure that Mentor felt safe, even if it meant moving her to a different hotel.
He also asked the team to consider whether she required additional measures to ensure her protection.
“I would like to be informed if proper arrangements are made for her‚” Zondo said.
Mentor will conclude her testimony on Wednesday before Maseko takes the stand.
She ended her testimony on Tuesday by relating her interaction with the police when she reported the alleged offer by Ajay Gupta to promote her to minister.
Meanwhile, Ajay Gupta’s lawyer has confirmed that he will apply for the right to crossexamine Jonas and Mentor – a move that will put him under pressure to take the stand.
Zuma’s lawyers have told Zondo that he is still deciding whether he will make such an application‚ but intends to communicate his decision by Friday.