Johannesburg: The names of President Jacob Zuma and other government ministers were used to push officials into allowing the Gupta family’s wedding guests to land at Waterkloof Air Force Base last month, but no members of the executive gave their say-so.
A team of directors-general appointed to get to the bottom of the Gupta scandal took sworn statements from implicated officials – among them chief of state protocol Vusi Koloane – which absolved the president and cabinet ministers of blame, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe told a media briefing on Sunday.
“We’ve got a statement from (Koloane) on record explaining himself on all these issues. That is why we are saying, without any fear of contradiction, that no minister was involved in this matter. The president was not involved,” Radebe said.
But the investigation had established that name dropping was “very bad” and had resulted in “the manipulation of the process” by people who “shared a common purpose and acted in concert”.
These included Koloane – who has been placed on compulsory leave – and the officer commanding movement control at Waterkloof Air Force Base, Lieutenant-Colonel Christine Anderson – who has been put on special leave.
Radebe said disciplinary processes would continue to determine “the guilt or otherwise of these individuals”.
20/05/13 Craig Dodds/IOL News
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
A team of directors-general appointed to get to the bottom of the Gupta scandal took sworn statements from implicated officials – among them chief of state protocol Vusi Koloane – which absolved the president and cabinet ministers of blame, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe told a media briefing on Sunday.
“We’ve got a statement from (Koloane) on record explaining himself on all these issues. That is why we are saying, without any fear of contradiction, that no minister was involved in this matter. The president was not involved,” Radebe said.
But the investigation had established that name dropping was “very bad” and had resulted in “the manipulation of the process” by people who “shared a common purpose and acted in concert”.
These included Koloane – who has been placed on compulsory leave – and the officer commanding movement control at Waterkloof Air Force Base, Lieutenant-Colonel Christine Anderson – who has been put on special leave.
Radebe said disciplinary processes would continue to determine “the guilt or otherwise of these individuals”.
20/05/13 Craig Dodds/IOL News
