Thuli Madonsela ‘will have Gupta report ready’ before she leaves

A report on the Gupta family “will be ready” before outgoing Public Protector Thuli Madonsela finishes her term.

Speaking at the Rhema Bible Church’s Truth Be Told conference, Madonsela told journalists that while she could not guarantee a comprehensive one she would have some sort of report available before she leaves her office.

“We are doing our best to complete all investigations that are in our hands. We are not 100% sure if they will be complete but we will have a report,” she said.

Madonsela was speaking at the conference on gender-based violence. She said while she believed dialogues on gender-based violence were necessary, 20 years into the implementation of the Constitution the country should be doing better on the matter.

Madonsela urged attendees to ask government to implement chapter five of the Equality Act, which addressed abuse and gender violence.

Earlier this year Madonsela was asked by the Catholic Dominican Order to investigate whether Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas and former member of Parliament Vytjie Mentor were offered Cabinet positions by the Guptas, whether the appointment of local government Minister Des van Rooyen as finance minister was known beforehand by the Gupta family and whether two senior advisers with links to the Gupta family were appointed to the national treasury alongside Van Rooyen without following proper procedure.

They also asked Madonsela to investigate allegations of state capture by the Guptas and all Gupta family business dealings with the state to establish if there had been any corruption or improper conduct.

“The specific request is to look into tenders or state contracts, mining licences and advertisements on the New Age newspaper,” said Madonsela’s spokesperson Oupa Segalwe at the time.

The Public Protector was also approached on the basis of the Executive Members’ Ethics Act by the Democratic Alliance in Parliament to look into suspected breaches of the executive ethics code by President Jacob Zuma in relation to Cabinet appointments.

This was in reference to claims by Jonas and Mentor that they were offered executive positions by members of the Gupta family in exchange for favourable executive decisions and beneficial business interests.

The Guptas have been accused of using their position as close friends of Zuma to influence Cabinet decisions that would allow them to score government tenders.

The Guptas and their company Oakbay Investments have denied the allegations countless times.

However, South Africa’s top banks – as well as their auditors KPMG and JSE sponsor Sasfin – cut ties with business units linked to the Guptas in April this year without citing specific reasons. – News24