Zuma Can’t Remember ANC MP Who Says Guptas Offered Her Minister Job
President Jacob Zuma said he has no recollection of Vytjie Mentor, a former ANC member of parliament, and so he cannot comment on her allegation that the Guptas offered her a ministerial job while Zuma was in the next room. “The Presidency has received media enquiries about a reported comment on social media by former […]
President Jacob Zuma said he has no recollection of Vytjie Mentor, a former ANC member of parliament, and so he cannot comment on her allegation that the Guptas offered her a ministerial job while Zuma was in the next room.
“The Presidency has received media enquiries about a reported comment on social media by former ANC Member of Parliament, Ms Vytjie Mentor,” the Presidency said in a statement on Tuesday. “President Jacob Zuma has no recollection of Ms Mentor. He is therefore unable to comment on any alleged incident in her career.”
Mentor, a former ANC caucus chairperson in parliament and a former chairperson of the portfolio committee on Public Enterprises, is apparently a fierce critic of Zuma.
Her allegation comes short on the heels of a Sunday news report that deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas had been offered the minister’s job by the Guptas while Nhlanhla Nene was still his boss, but he turned them down.
The report said Mcebisi had attended a meeting with two Gupta brothers and Zuma’s son Duduzane, who is in partnership with the Guptas, two weeks before Nene was sacked. The job reportedly came with a condition: that Mcebisi support the nuclear build programme and purge senior officials at National Treasury.
Mentor, who is outside the country at the moment, made the comment on Facebook to Democratic Alliance member Johann Abrie.
She said the Guptas had asked her during a visit to their home in Saxonwald, while Zuma was in the next room, to become Minister of Public Enterprises when Barbara Hogan was relieved of the post. The offer came with conditions, including that the South African Airways route to India be discontinued so they could take it over. Mentor said she declined.
Mentor’s allegation unleashed a storm on social media, and the Guptas were reported to have released a statement saying they had never met Mentor and that the offer had never been made. According to news reports, the Guptas said she should file an affidavit stating under oath that she was offered a ministerial position by the family.