Parly lists Guptas and Duduzane for inquiry
Eskom procurement deals under scrutiny
Gupta brothers Ajay and Atul, as well as President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane, have been listed as potential witnesses in the upcoming parliamentary inquiry into Eskom procurement deals and state capture.
The National Assembly’s public enterprises committee met yesterday to discuss the terms of reference and potential witnesses to testify before its parliamentary inquiry, which has been scheduled to get under way on August 1.
The Guptas and Duduzane were not on the original list prepared by the committee, but DA MP Natasha Mazzone requested that they be included.
Zukiswa Rantho, who is an ANC MP and the acting chairwoman of the public enterprises committee, said they would seek legal advice on whether they could call the Guptas, but said parliamentary rules gave them powers to summon “any person” within the Republic.
Also on the list to be called are former Eskom group CEOs, and former board chairmen.
Rantho said the inquiry would look into the issues surrounding Molefe’s reappointment as group chief executive as well as issues of procurement at Eskom within the context of state capture allegations.
Rantho also confirmed she had received a letter from chairman of House Committee in the National Assembly Cedric Frolick, asking her committee to look into the issues of state capture raised in the leaked Gupta e-mails.
“We still need to get and read the e-mails but we will see if we can include them as part of the inquiry,” she said.
Among the documents the committee would ask for are minutes of the meetings held to discuss Molefe’s re-appointment as well as his pension fund payout and all of the reports into maladministration at power utility Eskom.