Zuma ceded his power to Guptas, says Manuel
• Former minister’s testimony centres on Atul Gupta’s role in the appointment of ministers
The admission by former sports minister Fikile Mbalula that the Guptas had informed him of his promotion to the cabinet was the first real evidence that former president Jacob Zuma had abdicated his powers, former finance minister Trevor Manuel said on Thursday.
The chairman of insurance giant Old Mutual told the Zondo commission into state capture that up to that point the influence of the family, friends of Zuma and business associates of his son, had been a subject of speculation and even “banter”.
Manuel was the country s longest-serving finance minister under four presidents: Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Zuma.
During his stewardship of the economy, the country’s debt shrank, culminating in its first budget surplus, partly attributed to robust growth and stronger-than forecast revenue collection from the SA Revenue Service.
He left the government after the 2014 elections and declined nomination to the ANC’s highest decision-making body at the 2012 elective conference that paved the way for Zuma’s reelection as president.
Zuma’s second term had cost SA about R470bn through corruption and bad policymaking, Nedbank chief economist Dennis Dykes wrote in February.
Manuel’s testimony centred on the appointment of ministers, specifically about Mbalula’s suspicions that Atul Gupta had “unlawfully interfered” in his appointment as sports & recreation minister.
The influence of the family, which has been linked to widespread corruption during the Zuma era that led to severe damage to key institutions, such as Eskom, came to the fore in 2016 when former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas said they had offered him the job of finance minister, ahead of Nhlanhla Nene’s firing.
Manuel told the commission that an emotional Mbalula told an NEC meeting in 2011 that he had been called to the Guptas’s Saxonwold home the previous
year and told of his impending appointment. He said at the time the NEC was discussing concerns regarding the influence that the Guptas had over Zuma, who was present, but did not react to the comments.
“In fact at that time there was a climate where it seemed that certain individuals were invited to Saxonwold, not only minister Mbalula, but he was the first to make that declaration,” Manuel said.
“There had been speculation about a number of others and a bit of banter even,” but Mbalula’s revelation was the first confirmation and was delivered in “a very emotional statement”, Manuel said.
“In many ways it broke the myth, it confirmed that these things were happening.”
He said he did “not have the slightest doubt” that the abdication of Zuma’s powers as president was evident in Mbalula’s statement to the NEC.
Manuel said a major cabinet reshuffle in October 2010 was when things changed, and this was part of the “repurposing” of the state. The ballooning of the cabinet also meant that there was more opportunity for patronage. Nene was replaced by unknown ANC backbencher Des van Rooyen, who was seen to be a Gupta minister.
Manuel said the fact that the Guptas knew about Mbalula’s promotion and seemed to have the authority to call him and inform him of it, was a “total violation of everything the constitution requires of the exercise of executive authority”.
The Guptas’s application to cross-examine Manuel was dismissed by Zondo in January.
Manuel on Thursday described the Guptas as “crude rent seekers”, and said he would like to see the family face the consequences of its actions.