Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. Picture: Neil McCartney
Former Denel chairperson Daniel Mantsha told the Zondo commission on Friday some of his trips to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates were for personal business reasons and unrelated to the arms manufacturer.
The chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture on Friday, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, heard about former Denel chairperson Daniel Mantsha’s overseas trips.
This relates to emails leaked to the media that Mantsha allegedly met with the Gupta family in India and Dubai on “five-star trips”.
It has been further alleged he promptly set about sharing confidential Denel information with Gupta associate Ashu Chawla.
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On Friday, Mantsha continued with his testimony after lunch, addressing trips he took abroad, including when he traveled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in October 2015, which also saw former president Jacob Zuma’s son, Duduzane, make the same trip.
Reading the invoice for the flight, evidence leader Paul Kennedy said Mantsha, Duduzane and his wife, Shanice, travelled to Dubai. However, these were on different dates.
In his reply, Mantsha said he went to Dubai for personal reasons. He said when he went on business trips, Denel would pay and on personal trips he would pay himself.
“I was not doing any Denel business. The trip was for my personal business reasons. May I add, chairperson, I have a [younger] brother who has lived in that country [UAE] for probably 10 years or more and we have been talking about a lot of things.
“So this trip was undertaken in pursuant of the [business] opportunities that myself and my brother have been talking about,” he said.
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He, however, said the business opportunities involved Duduzane after Kennedy raised a point that the travel agency that booked the flights while invoicing Westdawn Investments, was a company in which Tony Gupta and the former president’s son were shareholders.
“Let me explain chair, I asked Mr Ashu Chawla to arrange the trip. So I did not know which account he used to pay for the trip. The arrangement between me and him was that he arranges the trip, tells me how much it is and then I settle [the amount].
“He did indicate that Mr [Duduzane] Zuma would be undertaking the trip more or less the same time as I was. So I knew that Mr Zuma be going to the place… I think we all know that Mr Zuma is actually based in that part of the country,” he said.
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