The DA says it wants answers on whether the deputy minister of finance, Mcebisi Jonas, met with the Gupta family to discuss the top post at the National Treasury.<\/p>\n
It follows a report in the Financial Times<\/a> that the Guptas, who have strong business links with president Jacob Zuma, allegedly met with Jonas to ask him if he wanted to become minister.<\/p>\n The paper reported that Jonas turned down the offer, leading to president Zuma sacking then finance minister, Nhlanhla Nene, and replacing him with back-bencher, Des van Rooyen.<\/p>\n The FT published an article under the headline ‘South Africa: The power of the family business’.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been an extraordinary number of allegations around the Gupta family in recent weeks, several of which have involved the finance ministry,\u201d a Gupta family spokesman told the FT. \u201cTo be absolutely clear: there was no meeting at all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are business people and we have nothing to do with politics,\u201d said Ajay Gupta, in a recent interview with the FT.<\/p>\n The Treasury and Mr Jonas declined to comment, neither denying nor confirming the existence of the meeting, the paper said.<\/p>\n David Maynier, DA shadow minister of finance, said it is imperative that Jonas breaks his silence and makes an urgent public statement clarifying:<\/p>\n \u2018We are business people, we have nothing to do with politics\u2019: Guptas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Zuma\u2019s son gifted shares in Gupta owned company: report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n We aren\u2019t going anywhere: Guptas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Eskom has \u201cnothing to hide\u201d in Gupta coal supply probe<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
More on politics in SA<\/h3>\n