Guptas see Treasury as 'stumbling block' – Jonas

Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas has made startling claims about the wealth of the Gupta family, courtesy of transactions with the state, and their view that the National Treasury was a ‘stumbling block’ to their ambitions, notes Legalbrief. In an 11-page affidavit filed at the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) last week in Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s application for clarification that he cannot interfere when banks close customer accounts, Jonas is adamant he met Ajay Gupta and was offered the Finance Minister’s job and R600m in exchange for bringing business deals to the Gupta family. Jonas’ 11-page affidavit was in response to Ajay Gupta’s own affidavit in which he vehemently denied these events took place and labelled Jonas ‘blatantly dishonest’. A BusinessLIVE report notes that in the affidavit filed on 9 February‚ Gupta had – under oath – denied meeting or speaking to Jonas. But Jonas was having none of it. ‘The correct facts regarding Ajay Gupta himself is‚ in short‚ as follows. I met him at his Saxonwold residence on 23 October 2015 together with Duduzane Zuma and Hlongwane‚’ he said‚ referring to businessman Fana Hlongwane. The affidavit continues: ‘Mr Gupta indicated to me that ‘we’ – I understood clearly‚ the Gupta family and its interests – had been gathering intelligence on me, including those closest to me; they were aware of my activities and connections with senior members of the ANC; (and) they were going to make me the Minister of Finance.' They also explained that 'collectively as a family they make a lot of money from the state; that they intend to increase that to about R8bn from about R6bn currently and that the bulk of their money is stashed in Dubai'.