R260m paid to Gupta entities

Kodwa says inquiry must show ‘no fear or favour’ to Zuma and his son

Former president Jacob Zuma should appear before the commission of inquiry into state capture regardless of his position or stature and answer a slew of claims that the Gupta family controlled him and used their connections with him to milk the state of billions.

Asked if the ANC believes Zuma – who, with his son Duduzane Zuma and the Gupta family are at the centre of state capture allegations – should appear before the commission, head of the Presidency Zizi Kodwa yesterday said there must be “no fear or favour”.

“Whether you were once a president of the republic or a premier of a province, you must be bold enough because these allegations are quite serious.”

Zuma, through his lawyers last week, said he would not apply to cross-examine witnesses as none of them implicated him.

Kodwa’s statement yesterday came on the day the commission, headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, heard how the Guptas’ media companies had pocketed more than R260m from the government since 2004.

The funds were channelled from the Government Communications and Information System (GCIS) and various levels of government to the Gupta-owned The New Age Media (TNA) and Infinity Media.

Over the years, the money was transferred to 11 different bank accounts, with the description of the beneficiaries all variations of the company names.

The figures were outlined in testimony by Treasury veteran Jan Gilliland.

Over a 14-year period, Infinity Media earned R12m and TNA made R248m.

At a national level, R99.6m was spent, while the top three provincial spenders were identified as Free State (R79.3m), KwaZulu-Natal (R25m) and North West (R23.8m).

The bulk of the money came from the office of the premier in each of these provinces.

Over the years, the money was transferred to 11 different bank accounts