Govt must investigate veracity of #GuptaLeaks – ANC

In the wake of the leaked email correspondence between the Guptas and their associates, allegedly indicating the extent of the family’s “capture” of the state, the African National Congress (ANC) on Friday said it noted reports on the emails with “grave concern”.

A terse statement released by the governing party said reports into claims that the Guptas controlled some Cabinet ministers and state-owned companies “contain very worrying claims about the nature of the relationship between government and private interests”.

The party said it viewed the allegations in a “very serious light”, and “if left unattended, they call into question the integrity and credibility of the government and its use of state resources under the direction of or to the benefit of private interests”.

“Such matters cannot be allowed to fester in the public domain. Accordingly, the ANC calls on government to urgently seek to establish the veracity of these claims and explanation from those implicated,” the party said.

The ANC also reiterated the national executive committee’s (NEC) call earlier this week for a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture to be established without delay. The party, however, said in its NEC statement on Monday it wanted the inquiry to investigate the extent of business influence on the state from 1994.

President Jacob Zuma on Thursday, closing the debate on his budget vote in parliament, said he was not opposed to the establishment of the inquiry, saying state capture was “a big thing” and needed to be addressed through the inquiry. But he dismissed the allegations levelled against the Guptas, his friends, as nothing but “allegations and rumours”.

Read the full statement below:

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