More OUTA submissions to State Capture inquiry

After a busy few weeks of preparing submissions for the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) delivered seven new submissions to the Commission. These submissions will give the Commission insight into the acts of certain individuals as well as the irregularities at some state-owned entities. OUTA is proud to contribute in this way and believes that it will assist the Commission in its quest to get to the bottom of state capture.

The following submissions were made during October 2018:

Ace Magashule and the Office of the Free State Premier

From 2012 to 2014, the Free State Premier’s Office and official letterhead were used to send invitations to political leaders in India to visit South Africa. Although it is not unusual to invite politicians from abroad to visit South Africa, these invitations caught the eye of OUTA investigators because they were prepared by Gupta-associate Ashok Narayan, who would forward the contents of the letters to the Premier’s son. Magashule Jnr would then forward these to the Chief of Staff in the Premier’s Office who would print them on the Premier’s official letterhead ready for distribution. OUTA could not find any indication that protocol was followed, and it is therefore necessary for the Commission to establish if the Premier’s Office was captured and abused by the Guptas.

Dr Ben Ngubane

This submission shows Dr Ben Ngubane’s involvement with Gupta associates such as Salim Essa and Iqbal Sharma, his decisions pertaining to the Brian Molefe pension claim, and criminal complaints regarding false share certificates.

Mosibenzi Zwane

The involvement of the former Minister of Mineral Resources with the Vrede dairy farm and the Gupta company Estina come under the spotlight in this submission. It gives insight into Zwane’s tenure as Minister, particularly his role in the purchase of Optimum Holdings by the Guptas’ Tegeta, his conduct regarding the Koornfontein and Optimum rehabilitation funds and his role in the Inter-Ministerial Committee which tried to pressurise South African banks to keep the Gupta bank accounts open. His appointments of special advisors and the Gupta links of these advisors are also exposed.

Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund

In this submission we detail how Gupta-linked companies acquired contracts with the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund and with Transnet, how these contracts were used to gain access to certain funds and how these funds were misappropriated. The submission will also show how some of these funds found their way to other implicated individuals and entities and were used to fund Tegeta’s purchase of Optimum mine.

SABC

The lengthy SABC submission covers a wide range of information and evidence, covering the Saxonwold visits of former Communications Minister Dina Pule, the improper conduct of former Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and her collaboration with the Gupta family, the appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the licence collection scheme run by Frans Basson.

PRASA

The Siyangena and Swifambo Rail contracts with PRASA are dealt with in this submission, including how the PRASA board had to approach the court to get the Hawks to do their job and how OUTA became involved with this application. It also includes hundreds of reports on various procurement projects from different forensic investigations into these contracts.

General submission

OUTA’s general submission includes information on former DG of Public Enterprises Richard Seleke, former Eskom interim CEO Collin Matjila, Broadbrand Infraco, The New Age, the Bank of Baroda and the former President’s wife, Gloria Bongi Ngema-Zuma.

As with previous submissions by OUTA, these submissions are also a continuation of our work that started with the No Room to Hide report, submitted to Parliament 2017. OUTA is still finalising submissions on Transnet, SAA and SA Express; these are expected to be submitted to the Commission shortly.

The submissions are here:

Ace Magashule: submission  and annexures 

Ben Ngubane: submission and annexures 

Mosibenzi Zwane: submission and annexures - annex 1, annex 2a, annex 2b, annex 3-11, annex 11a, annex 11b

Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund: submission and annexures 

SABC: submission and annex 1a, annex 1b, annex 2-20 

PRASA: submission 

General submission and annex G1-G11, annex G12, annex G12 Continued, annex G13-G24, annex G25-G38