These are the two mystery advisers of Des van Rooyen, the short-lived finance minister who is now minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs.
BizNews this week named Ian Whitley and Mohamed Bobat as the two advisers who were parachuted into the national treasury with Van Rooyen in December by mystery backers.
That day has been dubbed “9/12” by treasury insiders for the market rout that followed Van Rooyen’s appointment. Treasury insiders say it was clear that neither Bobat nor Whitley was well-acquainted with the minister. Sources told City Press that telephone numbers were being exchanged on Van Rooyen's first - and almost last - meeting at the treasury.
BizNews reported that insiders believed the two were allied to the powerful Gupta family. The Guptas are now at the centre of a storm about “state capture” in the governing ANC. On Monday, the party met a delegation of Gupta family members and business associates, including President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane. The Sowetan newspaper reported that the meeting was an effort to iron out an escalating dispute in the ANC and its wider tripartite alliance on the sway the family has on affairs of state, a trend it describes as state capture.
When Van Rooyen was rapidly removed from the treasury, he was swapped with Pravin Gordhan at Cogta, the department that oversees cooperative governance and traditional affairs. The two advisers moved with him. Below is a media statement by the minister explaining his choice of advisers.
City Press has requested interviews with the two advisers for two weeks now.