Dlamini-Zuma comes clean on meeting the Guptas – report

Former president Jacob Zuma’s ex-wife Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is the minister in the presidency, has revealed that she too met with the Guptas during her tenure as minister of foreign affairs, IOL reports.

Dlamini-Zuma served as minister of foreign affairs from 1999 to 2009.

She was quoted as saying that she had attended official meetings where Ajay Gupta had been present and that he was at the time serving as a board member at Brand South Africa.

Dlamini-Zuma said she accepted an invitation to attend Diwali celebrations at the Gupta home.

She was replying to a parliamentary question by a DA MP who asked whether she had attended meetings where the Guptas, their employees, or close associates were present.

Responding to the DA MP’s question whether Dlamini-Zuma was influenced by any individual to take official administrative action on behalf of the Guptas or their associates, the minister said:“No, I have never been influenced, nor have I influenced an employee to take administrative action on behalf of the person(s) specified.”

Another minister who was recently discovered of having met with the Guptas is Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.

In a sworn affidavit, ahead of his testimony at the commission of inquiry into state capture, Gordhan details an official meeting with the Guptas, as well as other encounters.

According to Gordhan, he met the Guptas at the request of former president Zuma at some stage during his first term.

Gordhan said he refused to meet with them after that, but admits to seeing them at two events and a business meeting after this.

Nhlanhla Nene handed in his resignation to President Cyril Ramaphosa after his testimony at the commission of inquiry into state capture revealed that he had met the Guptas.

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