Guptas, Martins, Duduzane to appear before Eskom inquiry

The parliamentary inquiry into Eskom yesterday adjourned until January, with an undertaking that the Gupta brothers and Deputy Public Enterprises Minister Ben Martins will appear before it for questioning.

The committee vowed to subpoena Martins after he sent a letter saying he would not come to testify but would make a written submission

The chairperson of the inquiry, Zukiswa Rantho, said it was unfortunate that fellow members of parliament had failed to respect its work.

“Now, we will subpoena them, and we will have to start with a member of government,” she said, referring to Martins, who was fingered by Eskom’s suspended head of legal, Suzanne Daniels, in her testimony last month.

Daniels told the inquiry Martins was present, along with President Jacob Zuma’s son, Duduzane, when she was pressed by Ajay Gupta about the hearing dates for the court challenge to Eskom’s pension payout for former CEO Brian Molefe.

Martins has denied that he was present at the meeting.

In a letter to the committee, he complained that he was only given a day’s notice to come to testify, and said he would not.

“It is not necessary for me to appear as I am responding to the committee in writing,” he wrote, adding that he reserved his rights.

Lawyers for the Gupta brothers, the businesspeople alleged to have siphoned billions of rands off state-owned enterprises, sent a letter to the committee stating that the family would not be available to appear before it between December 8 and January 15. “To give Mr Gupta and his family an opportunity to provide written input to the inquiry, we call upon you to furnish us with a detailed list of questions. Please let us have this list within 10 working days.”

DA’s public enterprises spokesperson Natasha Mazzone said she expected to see the brothers at the inquiry on January 16 and greatly looked forward to the encounter.

The committee has also asked Duduzane Zuma, a shareholder in the Gupta family’s Tegeta Exploration, to appear for questioning. – ANA