Myeni, Guptas and Duduzane Zuma to be summonsed as #EskomInquiry wraps up

Cape Town - Parliament's portfolio committee on public enterprises has decided to summons former South African Airways chair Dudu Myeni, Gupta brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh, and Duduzane Zuma, as it wraps up its work on the Eskom inquiry.

According to a statement issued by the committee on Tuesday, it will finalise a report on the inquiry in May and table the report in Parliament in mid-June. A preliminary report will be issued for those implicated to make their comments, inquiry chair Zukiswa Rantho said.

Over the past few months the committee has heard from several witnesses as it investigated the mismanagement of state funds at the state-owned enterprise.

At a closed meeting held on Tuesday, the committee decided it will accept affidavits from individuals who want to make submissions to the inquiry. April 13 is the deadline, Rantho confirmed to Fin24.

At a hearing two weeks ago where Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba made his presentation, the committee said it would look into issuing summonses to Myeni, the Guptas and Duduzane Zuma.

• READ: #EskomInquiry: Myeni can't hold committee to ransom

The three parties sent through separate letters to Rantho, declining to appear before the inquiry.

Myeni’s reason for failing to appear before the inquiry was ill health, while the Guptas' lawyers communicated that their clients would not appear as they were not in the country.

Duduzane Zuma’s lawyer Gary Mazaham indicated that his client had not received transcripts of testimonies of Ben Martins, Lucky Montana and Suzanne Daniels, in which he was implicated. Mazaham requested that the transcripts be sent before he could advise Zuma to answer to the committee.

Rantho told Fin24 that the three parties should appear before the committee within the next two weeks, before April 13.

Over the weekend, Rantho received telephonic threats. She told Fin24 that she reported this to the State Security Agency and made statements to the South African Police Service. “The police are trying to find the person; I gave them the number,” she said.

Rantho said that once the report is tabled, she hopes state agents will conduct further probes, including criminal investigations.

She clarified that the inquiry is part of the oversight work done by the committee on behalf of Parliament, and is not part of the commission into state capture.

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