DA to lay criminal charges against president Zuma
DA leader Mmusi Maimane says the party is ready to lay criminal charges against president Jacob Zuma and those implicated in state capture, and has also put in a request to Parliament to launch an ad hoc committee to investigate the matter.
The first people the DA wants pulled before such a committee is the Gupta family themselves, Maimane said.
The latest legal bid comes after a series of emails were published by national newspapers, with further details about the close ties between the Gupta family and various state departments and SOEs.
The emails purport to show how the Gupta family trained ministers and youth league leaders on how to handle media questions on their relationship, while also exposing correspondence between the family and leaders at Eskom, SAA and Transnet.
Most eye-opening was a letter, apparently addressed to the prince of Abu Dhabi on behalf of president Zuma, seeking patronage for a move to Dubai.
The Guptas and those implicated have called the emails fake, and deny any wrongdoing.
However, the DA says that there is enough evidence of criminality in the state capture saga to compile a solid case.
“Multiple cabinet ministers, public officials and the upper leadership of state-owned entities have been implicated in a criminal syndicate to control the resources of our country, for their own selfish benefit,” Maimane said.
“We have over the past 24 hours been in consultation with our lawyers over criminal charges, and these are now almost finalised.
“I am satisfied that sufficient criminal elements exist for the laying of charges, including grand corruption, undermining of state sovereignty and various statutory crimes, carrying serious prison terms.
“Tomorrow, I will lay these charges with the SAPS, fully documented and evidenced, and I expect that a thorough investigation will follow,” he said.
The DA leader also said he has approached speaker of the national assembly, Baleka Mbete, with a request to set up a Parliamentary ad hoc committee on the matter.
“Allegations of Gupta capture against Ministers Van Rooyen, Zwane, Gigaba, Brown and Muthambi, and the Executive as a whole, demand full investigation by Parliament through an Ad Hoc Committee.
“Parliament is mandated by the Constitution to hold the Executive accountable. For this reason, the DA has today requested that National Assembly Speaker, Baleka Mbete, establish an Ad Hoc Committee to fully probe the relations of captured Ministers, the President and the Gupta family.
“This request will necessitate a debate in the National Assembly, in which we expect MPs to put South Africa first and to agree to establish this committee. The powers of such a committee will include the power to summon any person to come and give evidence, and first of these must be the Guptas themselves,” he said.
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