Minister ‘must answer to Parliament over Guptas’

THE extent of the Gupta family’s “web of corruption” was becoming increasingly evident, and Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula needed to explain to Parliament the “outrageous access” the Guptas had to classified military information, the DA said yesterday.

The DA would write to the chair of Parliament’s defence committee to request that Mapisa-Nqakula urgently brief the committee on how the Gupta family gained access to classified military information for their Sun City family wedding in 2013, said DA spokesperson Kobus Marais.

The minister should appear before Parliament without any delay when Parliament resumed in August, he said.

According to media reports yesterday, classified information such as dissemination maps and aviation charts of the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria were sent to the Gupta family over insecure e-mail systems before the Sun City wedding.

“If these allegations are true, the Gupta family and their associates were potentially in contravention of the Defence Act, South African Revenue Service (Sars) Act, and the Customs and Excise Act, as they failed to request or receive any approval from the South African Civil Aviation Authority, the defence force, and Sars,” Marais said.

“Minister Mapisa-Nqakula must come before Parliament to explain this outrageous access the Guptas had to our country’s military services.

“The DA will continue to explore every avenue to bring an end to the utter corruption of the Guptas and their stooges,” Marais said.