Lakela Kaunda: I’m not captured
The Presidency's COO joins a number of politicians and businesspeople who have confirmed the authenticity of the leaked Gupta emails.
Lakela Kaunda. Credit: Twitter
Chief operating officer (COO) in the Presidency Lakela Kaunda is alleged to have sent Sahara Computers CEO Ashu Chawla documents confirming the existence of a registered company called Ntomb’Nkulu Investments.
The company’s ownership, according to weekend media reports, was transferred to Siphesihle Kaunda, her son. She then, as the publication revealed, sent the following message: “Document for Mr T. We will use this vehicle. He has the ID.”
The Sunday Times reported that the email correspondence, part of the #GuptaEmails, showed she met Rajesh ‘Tony’ Gupta on January 8, 2013, at the now infamous Saxonwold mansion that former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe implied might have a shebeen inside.
The email was reportedly sent around 2013.
When approached for comment, the long-serving spokesperson to Jacob Zuma joined a string of other politicians and high-profile individuals who do not deny the existence of the emails, but she rebutted the allegations and contents of the emails.
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“Mr Gupta made an offer for me to join one of their companies, and asked for an existing company to be a partner. I confirm that I sent the email to Chawla about Ntomb’Nkulu Investments. I later contacted him to inform that I wish to decline, and indicated that I do not want to participate in any business or other activities with them,” she told The Sunday Times.
She also reportedly admitted she was once in business with the Guptas as a director for one of their companies, earning R20 000 a month. She said that was in 2008 when she was a Luthuli House employee.
Dr Bongani Ngqulunga, President Zuma’s spokesperson, said the president “cannot comment on stakeholder meetings that senior officials participate in as part of their official duties”.
http://https://www.citizen.co.za/news/news-national/the-guptaemails-are-authentic-says-malema/
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