State capture report: Anoj Singh, Gupta cash and the safety deposit box

Gupta cash totalling over R19 million found its way to disgraced former Eskom CFO Anoj Singh’s personal bank account, evidence by the state capture report showed.

Despite his attempts to distance himself from the Guptas and their dealings, Singh knew the family very well as they funded his lavish lifestyle using public funds.

The second installment of commission’s report detailed the “racketeering” ring at Transnet, with former CEOs Brian Molefe, Siyabonga Gama and Singh at the centre of it all.

Singh’s appointment as Transnet CFO in 2012, coincided with the appointment of Gupta-linked businessman Iqbal Sharma as chairperson of a board acquisition and disposal committee a month later, the report showed.

“These appointments coincided with the launch of the market demand strategy, the R300 billion capital expenditure programme which was the centre-piece of procurement corruption at Transnet in subsequent years, and over which Mr Singh exercised control.”

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Sharma – who continued to live an opulent lifestyle even after the Guptas fled the country as state capture allegations closed in – was arrested and charged for alleged corruption in the Free State’s Estina Dairy scandal.

Sharma is out on a R500,000 bail.

Singh frequented the Gupta Saxonwold compound and was even invited to the family’s lavish wedding at the Sun City resort in 2013.

Just like other Gupta lackeys, he was wined and dined by the fugitive family during sponsored trips overseas, including in Dubai where he occasionally stayed at the luxurious Oberoi Hotel.

“Mr Singh knows the Guptas fairly well. He was at pains to minimise the extent of the relationship. His denials must be assessed in the light of his poor credibility as evidenced by his many falsehoods and dissembling exposed throughout his appearance before the commission,” read the report.

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He denied the evidence by his driver who detailed how he drove him to the Gupta residency more than 10 times, or that the driver took him to Knox Vaults, a safety deposit box facility to store his share of the cash from the Guptas.

At the commission, the driver detailed how he would drive him to Saxonwold, where Singh would often carry a bag.

The witness said the bag on some occasions was filled with R100 or R200 notes, and that Singh would regularly lock it up in a deposit box.

More evidence showed the free trips and cash flow from the Gupta enterprise, as well as Singh accumulating over R19 million in his personal bank account, without needing to spend his monthly salary.

“This indicated he had other sources besides his salary. The fact that his account was not an interest-bearing one obviated his declaring additional income from it in his tax returns.”

The former CFO was stripped of his membership at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) in 2020 after he was found guilty of improper conduct and conducting himself in a grossly negligent manner.

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