Ajay Gupta denies allegations of state capture and says he has never met the deputy minister of finance, Mcebisi Jonas.<\/p>\n
The family is accused of trying to \u201ccapture the state\u201d, using their friendship with president Jacob Zuma to secure lucrative contracts and strengthen their business dealings with government.<\/p>\n
Despite the allegations and accusations, however, the family has not been formally charged with any crimes.<\/p>\n
In March Jonas claimed that the Gupta family offered him the role of finance minister \u2013 an offer which he said he outright rejected.<\/p>\n
\u201cMembers of the Gupta family offered me the position of minister of finance to replace then-minister Nene. I rejected this out of hand. The basis of my rejection of their offer is
\nthat it makes a mockery of our hard earned democracy, the trust of our people and no one apart from the President of the Republic appoints ministers,” Jonas said at the time.<\/p>\n
In March, ANC secretary general, Gwede Mantashe called on politicians to come forward to provide evidence of an alleged attempt at state capture. In May he said that there was no evidence of Gupta influence after only eight people came forward, while only one person provided a written statement.<\/p>\n