Revoking Gupta citizenship ill-advised – home affairs

The department of home affairs has released a statement in response to reports alleging that Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba had ignored a legal opinion which advised against granting the Gupta family citizenship.

The department stated: “We wish to place it on record that earlier this year in March, minister Gigaba instructed the director general to seek legal opinion on the legal circumstances under which the Gupta family’s naturalisation and Mr Ajay Gupta’s permanent residence may be revoked should such a need arise.”

The department also claims that the legal opinion cited in a recent News24 article was received on May 4 2018.

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“Given the interest of the security cluster in this matter, the minister and the director-general subsequently consulted the relevant security cluster departments for their views and input. The departments were of the view that it would be ill-advised for the department of home affairs to revoke the Gupta family’s citizenship and Mr Ajay Gupta’s permanent residence in view of ongoing investigations on them and possible prosecutions.”

SA Gov News reports that the minister accepted this view and believes that it would not serve the national interest to revoke the citizenship and permanent residence status of the Gupta family members before the law enforcement agencies conclude their investigations and make prosecutorial determinations.

The statement echoes the sentiments of former home affairs spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete who hit back at the article on Twitter.

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