Cape Town - The Guptas can run but they can’t hide, says OUTA.
The civil society organisation said it welcomed reports that Indian authorities are taking action against the Gupta family, who are at the centre of state capture allegations in South Africa.
“The fact that a foreign country (in this case the Guptas’ home country) is taking action against people who commit criminal acts in South Africa is extremely encouraging to us,” says OUTA’s CEO Wayne Duvenage.
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“We view this as a constructive international collaboration that makes it tough for those who commit such crimes to get away with their transgressions."
“We trust they will help South Africa by repatriating any funds stolen from our government back to our national coffers,” says Duvenage.
Last Friday the Bloemfontein High Court reserved judgment on an application by Ajay Gupta to have R10 million of his assets unfrozen. These assets form part of a preservation order for around R30 million of the Gupta family's money in their Bank of Baroda account. The R10 million was allegedly transferred by Estina (Pvt) Ltd into a private account belonging to the controversial businessman.
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Another preservation order, obtained by OUTA in September last year, saw the freezing of mine rehabilitation funds, and a third order for the preservation of funds relating to the Eskom payments to consultants McKinsey and Trillian.
On Tuesday immigration officials raided former Gupta company ANN7, the TV station which they controversially sold to Mzwanele Manyi, who paid for the company with a loan obtained from the Guptas. Four employees were reportedly arrested for being in South Africa illegally.
“The Guptas have let the citizens of India down, by coming to South Africa and hijacking our state funds for their personal gain. They have embarrassed the Indian community across the world and we are pleased that their conduct has been communicated in both mainstream and social media throughout India,” says Duvenage.