Image: Tshidi Madia/News24
Image: Tshidi Madia/News24
South Africans only have an issue with the Gupta family because of their Indian origins, says the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association.
The extraordinary claims were made at MKMVA’s media briefing on Monday, held at the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters.
Kebby Maphatsoe and Des Van Rooyen have retained senior leadership positions at the association’s 5th national congress, whereas Wiseman Ntombela was elected as their new Secretary General.
Boy, did he waste little time in making himself known…
Read: Minister who claims state capture is a myth linked to Gupta money laundering case
Ntombela became very confrontational when media personnel asked him about the Guptas, and said they were just like ‘any other South African citizens’ trying to run a business.
Yep. Just your normal billionaire family with a strong hand in government decisions. Just like me and you, eh?
He lambasted the majority of South Africa and their ‘apartheid-era mentality’ meaning they prefer white people to Indians, and he Ntombela also went on to claim that their foreign status has turned the public against them:
“I saw it in Brazil. Each time you are a foreigner, you own business, you employ people, the nationals of that country are afraid of competition, or maybe they feel the stiffness of the competition, then they come against you. The Guptas [are] facing that problem now.”
The MKMVA secretary general also stated that the Gupta’s influence over Zuma is a side issue, and any state capture inquiries have to stretch back to the Apartheid regime from as early as it was established in 1948.
“Let’s make sure that it covers all that happened from 1948 up to now. We don’t want to be deviated by these people, saying ‘Gupta Gupta’. They want to move us from our focus on dealing with the issue of state capture.”
Read: Maimane tells Public Protector to ‘stop protecting the Guptas, start protecting the public’
I’m not sure how good a media strategy accusing the general public of abject racism will prove to be, but I can think of at least one run-of-the-mill billionaire family who’ll be happy with this.
