JOHANNESBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2021) A prominent South African anti-corruption organization has lambasted a court ruling absolving former Interior Minister Malusi Gigaba of wrongdoing when he granted the wealthy Gupta family of Indian origin early naturalization in 2015.
The South African Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane found that Gigaba did not abuse his powers when granting the controversial tycoon of Indian origin South African citizenship, but violated a code of ethics when he did not notify parliament of the matter.
In a commentary to Sputnik, Wayne Duvenage, head of Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, said that the ruling was wrongful and that the alleged corrupt links between Gigaba and the Guptas were known.
"We believe the Public Prosecutor report which clears Malusi Gigaba of abusing his power is a farce. She knows full well that Gigaba was close to the Guptas," Duvenage told Sputnik.
The billionaire Indian-South African family currently resides in the US and UAE after they were implicated in vast corruption schemes with former President Jacob Zuma. Ongoing investigations have uncovered that the Guptas had large sway in Zuma's government, even pushing through cabinet appointments.
Public Protectors Spokesman Oupa Segalwe told Sputnik that the Minister did not abuse his power, but breached the Code of Ethics when he did not table the name of those granted citizenship under exceptional circumstances.
"He [Gigaba] breached the ethics code when he failed to table the Names of those whose citizenship he naturalized on the basis of exceptional circumstances," said Segalwe, adding that his veering away from questions on the matter in a 2018 press conference was also registered as a violation.
Duvenage was not impressed with this stance and posited that the Mkhwebane, who herself is overseeing an investigation into the Guptas, may have a conflict of interest in the matter.
"It is too convenient for the Public Prosecutor to let him off the hook on a technicality when she was aware of the concerns about the Guptas business dealings with the state and that there would be questions raised about his actions to grant the citizenship," Duvenage told Sputnik.
The Guptas face a litany of charges and have become synonymous with the corruption in the Zuma era. Rising to prominence with a computer parts business in the 1990s, the Guptas later branched out to mining, transportation and media.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has undertaken a sweeping campaign to root out deep-rooted corruption since taking office in early 2018, including appointing Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to a commission of inquiry into state capture.
