Zwane under fire as DA claims he never declared Gupta India trip

Further evidence of “state capture” was revealed yesterday by the DA, which claimed Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane had failed to declare his trip to India in October 2012 – which is alleged to have been paid for by the Gupta family.

There have been renewed calls to bring to book all those allegedly involved in state capture. Zwane was the Free State MEC for agriculture.

MP James Lorimer, the DA’s shadow minister of mineral resources, noted the relevant declarations of members’ interests had been checked and no mention could be found of the trip.

“We will submit a formal complaint to the Public Protector against the mineral resources minister for misleading the Free State legislature when he failed to disclose this trip to India.”

Zwane’s spokesperson, Martin Madlala, did not respond to requests for comment.

Political analyst Daniel Silke said there seemed to be no end to the ongoing allegations of state capture, and that it was widespread.

“It runs across multiple ministerial positions and departmental officials, and the longer it drags on, clearly the more damaging it is for the ANC.

“If government believes by attempting to ignore the allegations, the same will happen by the electorate, it’s living in cloud cuckoo land,” said Silke.

“This is a festering sore within the ANC and I think there are elements within the ANC who recognise the matter has to be dealt with expeditiously, but there are others who clearly assume this wrongdoing can somehow be forgotten about.”

The DA’s latest complaint is one more thing on Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s plate, currently facing criticism for not releasing critical reports.

“However, she is instructed by law to investigate so it has to be done. I don’t know what penalties she can impose,” said Lorimer.

If a complaint was made to parliament or the Free State Legislature, it was unlikely Zwane would receive more than “a slap on the wrist”, Lorimer noted.

The amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism revealed Zwane’s trip to India was closely linked to his involvement in a dairy project in the Free State. The project is also alleged to have netted the Gupta family tens of millions of rands of taxpayer money.

“Dozens of e-mails, invoices and other documents show the family had significant control over the scheme – and sucked some R84-million to a company they controlled in the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” amaBhungane noted in early June.

“Zwane, then Free State MEC for agriculture, drove the provincial government to adopt the project in June 2012.”

In October, the Guptas took him and his gospel choir on an all-expenses-paid Indian tour.

“By the time [Gupta-affiliated company] Estina was kicked off the project in 2014 – following a national Treasury probe and amaBhungane’s exposure of dead cows being dumped in a ditch – the provincial government had paid Estina about R184 million in taxpayers’ money,” amaBhungane noted.

Silke said it was apparent those who were being named time after time in multiple reports were losing the faith of not only the broader South African electorate, but from members within their own political party.

“There seems to be little effort at the moment to instil a degree of accountability at the top levels of government,” Silke said.

“Instead, the secondary officials, the Molefes and Ngubanes of this world, are effectively taking the rap or at least seen to be jockeying for position,” Silke noted.

“Meanwhile,” he said “the political heads, who themselves have been fingered quite clearly, are certainly attempting at this stage to evade accountability.”

– amandaw@citizen.co.za

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