‘Flawed, abusive political conspiracy’ – why the Guptas think Gordhan’s court bid should be dropped
The Gupta family’s company, Oakbay Investments, has issued a statement ahead of filing court documents, effectively calling finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s bid to absolve him from getting involved in their spat with the banks a waste of time.
A court application was launched by Gordhan in 2016, seeking an order that said he could not get involved in the Gupta family’s affairs with the South African banks which had blacklisted them following serious allegations relating to state capture.
The Gupta family had appealed to the government to get involved, and a small ministerial committee was established, led by mining minister Mosebenzi Zwane, with also Gordhan featuring.
The minister’s application included documents detailing 72 questionable transactions made by the family and its various companies, amounting to R6.8 billion, as reported by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), as grounds for further investigations.
Gordhan’s application was supported by all the South African banks implicated, who agreed that the minister, or any official from government, could not interfere with their banking relationships with clients – while the Gupta family maintained that they were being unfairly targeted in a political conspiracy.
Read: The full list of 72 “dodgy” Gupta transactions amounting to R6.8 billion
According to a press release sent out from the family’s investment channel, Oakbay Investments, its legal council will be arguing that Gordhan’s application is “superfluous” and “riddled with factual and legal errors”.
Notably, the release says that the family never asked the finance minister to get involved with its dealings with South Africa’s banks – specifically the “bank-customer relationship” – and that Gordhan could have just declined, as was his legal right to do so.
“There is no contested legal issue here, and there is never any reason for the Minister to bring this application,” Oakbay said.
The Guptas also called the court application an abuse of the court system, saying that if the court were to entertain it, it would “open the floodgates for other weak-kneed political officials” who refused to take a stance on politically sensitive matters.
“This application is an abuse of the court and an effort to involve the independent judiciary to settle political scores,” the company said.
On the matter of the 72 “suspicious” transactions, the family hired an international investigation firm, Nardello & Co to review them. The subsequent report back found that there was not enough adequate evidence to connect the transactions with Oakbay, and are in many cases inexplicable.
“Two thirds of the allegedly suspicious transactions occurred after the time when the banks already decided to terminate their relationship with Oakbay,” the legal firm said, adding that the FIC’s release of the information to the minister was in itself unlawful.
Political conspiracy
The firm further accused Gordhan of playing part in a political conspiracy against them, saying that he had met with “60 captains of industry” and orchestrated a campaign against them.
“The timing of the Minister’s application supports the Oakbay Group’s suspicions that the application is politically motivated and is part of the Minister’s ongoing plan to diminish the Oakbay Group and the Gupta family and to damage their hard-earned South African business,” the statement said.
“The court should therefore decline to grant the relief sought by the Minister and dismiss the Minster’s application with costs.”
Oakbay did not provide a copy of the answering affidavit in its press release. The official court documents are expected to be filed on Friday.
Read: Gigaba to take on SA’s richest family over exclusive 7-star airport and claims of Gupta influence
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