South Africa’s deputy Finance Minister reveals he was offered top job by Wealthy Gupta Family
South Africa’s deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas has made outrageous revelations that he was offered the position of finance minister by a member of the wealthy Gupta family.
The Gupta family is said to be vastly wealthy, and is said to be close to President Jacob Zuma. Critics have accused the family of trying to “capture” the state.
In a statement, Jonas said that he turned down the job since it was a mockery of South Africa’s democracy.
“The basis of my rejection of their offer is that it makes a mockery of our hard-earned democracy, the trust of our people and no one apart from the President of the Republic appoints ministers,” Mr Jonas said.
He said he could no longer remain silent about the Gupta family offering him the top job in the finance ministry.
“We cannot afford to ignore the obvious impact these sentiments may have on our country and the resultant potential of undermining our moral authority. Neither can we afford to allow the attempts to capture the state to divert us from dealing with the challenges that our country faces,” said Jonas.
Reports surfaced at the weekend that Jonas was called to a meeting with the Guptas and offered the job two weeks before Nene was removed.
The Sunday Times also reported that President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane was at the meeting at a Sandton hotel in November. The newspaper further alleged that ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte had offered Jonas the position a few days later.
The Gupta family has however denied the claims that it offered the job to Jonas.
This is not the first time that the Guptas, who are said to have strong ties with Zuma, his family and other ANC leaders, have been accused of influencing Cabinet appointments.
