Manuel closer to ‘spy’ files
Judge compels Gupta staff to appear in court
FORMER finance minister Trevor Manuel is one step closer to finding out who obtained and disclosed personal information about him.
The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria this week ordered representatives of the Gupta-owned company Sahara Computers and its former chief executive director, Ashu Chawla, to to appear in court on whether or not they have, or ever have had, any records in their possession regarding personal information and surveillance of Manuel and his wife, Maria Ramos.
Both Chawla and Sahara have denied that they had any records in their possession containing Manuel’s personal information.
Manuel applied for access to this information in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
He told the court he believed that his personal information was unlawfully obtained and disclosed, and that he was subjected to unlawful surveillance.
This belief arose from a newspaper report where it was claimed emails and documents revealed that the Gupta family spied on various prominent South Africans, including Manuel and Ramos.
It was alleged that Chawla was at the centre of these emails, and that he authorised an Excel spreadsheet giving detailed information of flights Manuel and Ramos took.
It was also claimed that emails and documents revealed that Chawla was in communication with moles within the Department of Home Affairs, who emailed Manuel’s CV to Tony Gupta.
It was apparently also forwarded by Chawla to an adviser of the former home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba.
Manuel said it was not clear who was responsible for this unlawful conduct.
He therefor requested access to certain records to shed more light on that to protect his right to privacy.
Both respondents told the court that the records sought by Manuel did not exist and if they did, they did not have them.
Manuel, in turn, said while he could not for a fact say that they had the records, he felt that they were hiding something.
He thus wanted them to be cross-examined in court on the issue.
In his answering affidavit, Chawla denied the allegations.
Judge Sharise Weiner, however, said neither Chawla nor Sahara challenged the allegations made the news report, nor did they follow it up with any legal proceedings.
Manuel’s attorneys wrote letters to both in July last year, in which his concerns for his personal safety and security due to the unlawful surveillance and possession of his personal information was raised.
Judge Weiner said in her opinion Manuel was entitled to the records to protect his rights.
But since Sahara and Chawla said they did not have the records, they had to orally explain certain issues regarding the allegations to the court and to Manuel.
Sahara’s chief executive, Stephanus Nel, claimed their IT administrator searched for the spreadsheet, but nothing was found.
The court questioned why no other email accounts or documents were looked for.
It was also questioned why Chawla’s laptop computer, which he returned to Sahara when he left, was never searched.
“It would have been an obvious place to search,” the judge said.