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The Minister of Mineral Resources, Mr Mosebenzi Zwane, today appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources to answer questions related to allegations of state capture.

Minister Zwane told the Committee that his relationship with the Gupta family “is at a professional level” and that he has “not benefited anything from that relationship”.

“If there is a need to meet them (Guptas) tomorrow, I will meet them anywhere anytime, I continue to meet with people who have insulted me in the media, these people (Guptas) have not insulted me,” he said.

In justifying his relationship with the family, the Minister also disputed reports of any undue influence from the wealthy Gupta family, saying he will never favour one businessperson over the other. “I am always objective; my work is to engage with everybody equally.”

Responding to questions about his travels to India, Switzerland and Dubai, the Minister said all the trips were work related, but said details of these trips were a subject of court proceedings and asked the Committee to let the legal process unfold.

“Some of the matters raised here are a subject of an investigation, it is my humble request that we allow legal process to continue. I will stand up for anybody who is not treated well and that would not mean I am captured by them; they are my clients.”

He said there was nothing untoward about his intervention on the negotiations between Glencore and Tegeta, on the sale on a coal mine, adding that his efforts saved about 3 000 jobs.

The Minister was also asked about his role on the Vrede Dairy farm and the involvement of the Gupta family, during his time as MEC for Agriculture in the Free State province.

He told the Members of Parliament to go to the Free State Department of Agriculture for further details on the Vrede Dairy farm.

“The idea behind the Vrede Dairy came with me, I met with all political parties, there are records that the Democratic Alliance, the Freedom Front Plus and Cope supported the initiative. The project was approved by the whole Free State Legislature, with a collective of parties and even those who were not there at that time continued to support the project.

“I have never thought of initiating any project because I want to benefit, the idea behind Vrede was that in the milk industry black people were not players at the level of Clover, Parmalat and others, the idea was to bring balance, that was the sole aim – I don’t have a relative there – for further details information is available in the Department of Agriculture.”

On his alleged involvement in the Waterkloof Air Force Base Gupta plane landing, the Minister said he felt his powers were overestimated by the media and the public.

“How would anybody believe that a mere MEC from Free State can influence the landing of a plane in a different province from another country – what powers would I be having – I didn’t even know about the existence of Waterkloof Air Force Base. It is unfortunate that Honourable Paulsen thinks that I am captured, history will tell you that I can never be captured, nobody can capture me, not even Johan Rupert.”

Committee members felt the Minister failed to respond to a number of their questions, and resolved to schedule another meeting to continue the probe with the Minister.

“I haven’t heard a question that is directly on the executive authority of the incumbent, whether he acted irregularly or not. It is a very complex matter; I must be honest, and our recommendation is to reschedule to continue with the question and answer session with the Minister.

It would have been nice to deal with issues that are about executive actions of the Minister. We will also need to get legal guidance on what are the parameters of this Committee – in terms of the procedure of this matter – what will be the best option,” said the Chairperson of the Committee, Mr Sahlulele Luzipo.
 

Issued by Parliamentary Commnunication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources, Sahlulele Luzipo