Guptas ‘don’t have official passports’

DG denies rumours government documents were issued to family

MEMBERS of the Gupta family have not been issued with government official South African passports, according to Home Affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni.

“An official passport is given to somebody employed by government and we, as Home Affairs, are responsible for that. For us, we have never issued an official passport to any of the Gupta family,” Apleni told reporters in Pretoria yesterday.

Information on whether people are citizens of South Africa or permanent residents was private.

“If somebody now needs us to divulge information like that you have to go through the information access act, and you can do that if there is need for that.”

But Home Affairs spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete was adamant the “department has never issued an official passport to (any) members of that (the Gupta) family”.

Apleni said the issuing of diplomatic passports was handled by the International Relations and Co-operation department.

“Once the department approves that, the role of Home Affairs is just to print. The issue of diplomatic passports is not our responsibility.”

Last year, Lesotho’s new prime minister, Pakalitha

‘We owe it to

either official or diplomatic passports.

The information comes in the wake of several calls for a full probe into the so-called “Guptagate” scandal, including one yesterday from the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.

“The confirmation by Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas that he was approached and offered the job of finance minister before the sacking of former minister Nhlanhla Nene once more puts the spotlight on the need to probe the political influence and power of the Gupta family,” foundation executive director Neeshan Balton said.

Echoing the Helen Suzman Foundation and opposition political parties, the foundation expressed its support for “an independent and impartial judicial commission of inquiry” into alleged corruption by the Gupta family.

Included in the allegations made thus far are Jonas’s revelation, former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor’s multiple Facebook posts about being offered a ministerial position by Atul and Rajesh Gupta and veteran ANC member and Kathrada’s partner Barbara Hogan’s admission she had felt pressured to meet the family.

The foundation joined other prominent voices in the country in calling on any other public representatives who “may have been subjected to similar approaches from the Gupta family to come forward and expose any such sinister interactions and conduct”.

“We believe that the time has come for all South Africans to speak out against the growing leadership crisis that is unfolding in our country,” said Balton.

“We cannot allow our country and its democratic institutions to be taken over by a kleptocracy.

“Our focus must be on attaining the vision of the Freedom Charter and the constitution. We owe this to the millions of our people who sacrificed so much to make our democracy possible,” he said.

“We owe it to the millions who still need to taste the fruits of freedom.”

An appeal to the public protector by the Dominican Order, meanwhile, asks for investigations into the alleged offers of cabinet posts and whether the Gupta family had prior knowledge of the appointment of David van Rooyen as finance minister, as had been claimed.

The Dominican Order, an order of Catholic priests and brothers in southern Africa, further asked the public protector to look into allegations that two “senior advisers” linked to the Gupta family were appointed to the National Treasury, alongside Van Rooyen, without following the proper procedure.

“In addition to these, the Dominican Order asked the public protector to look into all business dealings of the Gupta family with any of the government departments to determine whether there were irregularities, undue enrichment, corruption and undue influence in the award of tenders, mining licences, government advertisements in the New Age newspapers and any other government services.”

The public protector’s office said the complaint would be subjected to the standard assessment process, to establish whether the public protector had jurisdiction to investigate the allegations, and whether there was any merit to the claims.

“The assessment process takes up to five working days. Only after this process will the public protector be in a position to make a decision on whether or not the matter will be investigated,” the office said. – ANA