Fed up MPs want to drag the Gu

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 21: Atul Gupta at the launch of ANN7 news channel on August 21, 2013, in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sunday Times / James Oatway

Fed up MPs want to drag the Guptas to account to parliament

We’d imagine that’s the last thing the Guptas would want to do, but if you’re summoned there’s no way out.

Fed up MPs want to drag the Gu

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 21: Atul Gupta at the launch of ANN7 news channel on August 21, 2013, in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sunday Times / James Oatway

The Guptas could soon find themselves being hauled in front of parliament, after some within the ANC caucus expressed their frustration at the slow progress into the family’s alleged involvement with some state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Listen: Investigate state capture and kick the Guptas out of SA, says Zuma junior

ANC MP Zukile Luyenge has threatened that parliament might have to summon the Guptas to appear before the parliamentary oversight committee on public enterprises over the latest SOE scandal involving the controversial family.

Denel, SA’s state-owned weapons research and manufacturing company, currently finds itself in front of the standing committee after some, let’s say, irregularities between Denel’s Asian arm and the Gupta-linked VR Laser SA.

According to TimesLive, three Denel employees were given the boot after they refused to follow the board’s orders to ‘facilitate’ cooperation between VR Laser and Denel. The committee now wants to know why the investigation into the three employees – CEO Riaaz Saloojee, CFO Michael Mhlotho and company secretary Elizabeth Africa – is taking so long, adding that they do not understand why Denel would need the help of “middlemen” to grow business in foreign markets.

“We’ve heard that suppliers, or some of the service providers in Denel, are all owned by the Gupta family. If that is the case, have the right supply-chain processes been followed? If that’s not the case, then why is this Gupta name not blacklisted? Why don’t we take them onto a platform to say you are doing wrong in terms of the constitution?” Luyenge asked.

“Let’s just call these Guptas and they must tell us how they came to provide services at the level at which they are doing,” he added.

Parliamentary standing committees have the power to summon anyone to parliament and we’d wager there are a few MPs who’d want to go a few rounds with the Guptas.

Related: Molefe had a hand in ‘helping’ the Guptas get their own mine, contracts with Eskom. Report