Mbalula: I was never appointed by Guptas

MINISTER of Sports Fikile Mbalula has denied claims that the influential Gupta family had a hand in his appointment to the ministry.

“I was never appointed by the Guptas, I was appointed by President Jacob Zuma and the ANC,” he told journalists yesterday.

Initially refusing to answer claims levelled against him by EFF leader Julius Malema, Mbalula said the onus was on his accusers to prove the allegations.

Mbalula said it was the task of the ANC to grapple with issues of state capture relating to the Guptas.

Speaking on the sidelines of a press conference on Fifa’s bribery allegations against South Africa, Mbalula said: “I’m not going to join the chorus. I have nothing to do with what Julius says, nor what he stands for nor the allegations he makes.”

He accused Malemaof trying to upset the cohesiveness of the ANC.

Mbalula said, like other liberation movements in Africa which found themselves in charge of vast resources, the ANC too had to deal with issues of state capture.

“The ANC must address its own challenges and the influence of business and how we interact with that and continue to deal with the concept of state capture.

“We need to examine that as a political party which is in power, objectively.

“If the Guptas come into the mix of that, then the ANC will address that particular question.”

Mbalula said the ANC would not have established an integrity committee if it did not have to deal with the fact that its members could be “subjected to a temptation of sorts” in relation to the management of state resources.

He added that the ANC was sure to discuss claims of the Gupta family’s influence at its National Executive Committee meeting this weekend.

This week, former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor claimed she had been offered a ministerial job by the Gupta family.

In response, President Jacob Zuma denied knowing her.

Asked whether he had visited the Gupta’s mansion in Saxonwold, Mbalula said: “The Guptas compound? It’s an immaterial question. I don’t feel obligated, nor do I have sleepless nights about whether I speak to the Guptas or not.”

He added that he did not believe the Guptas had influenced his appointment in any way.

Earlier yesterday, DA leader Mmusi Maimane and the party’s spokesman on finance David Maynier laid corruption charges against brothers Atul and Ajay Gupta and Duduzane Zuma, the president’s son.

The action comes in the wake of a revelation by Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas that he had been offered a cabinet position by the Guptas.