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South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied claims that he met with business people including Johan Rupert, Maria Ramos and Trevor Manuel following the appointment of Des Van Rooyen and the subsequent appointment of Pravin Gordhan as Minister of Finance.
According to RDMLIVE, President Jacob Zuma told the NEC that after he had appointed Des van Rooyen as finance minister, billionaire Remgro chairman Johann Rupert flew from London to meet with a senior ANC leader demanding the reversal of the decision.
Although Zuma didn’t mention the ANC leader, his claims were similar to those made in a column published by The New Age, a Gupta-owned newspaper, which claimed that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa had received a call from Rupert.
Earlier this week, Rupert spoke to Sowetan Live about the allegations saying, “No, I did not meet with Mr Ramaphosa, I have not seen him in many years.”
He further compared the allegations to the way the Nationalist Party ran its politics during Apartheid.
“The real sadness is to see history repeating itself. Finding themselves in trouble, the old, racist Nationalist Party lashed out at mysterious third forces trying to destabilise their appalling regime,” Rupert said in written response to questions posed by Sowetan.
‘State capture’ by wealthy elites has become a hot topic in South Africa, following allegations that the Gupta family had offered various politicians positions on President Zuma’s cabinet in exchange for policies that favour their business interests.
President Zuma has said he doesn’t know if this constituted an accusation of corruption. – timeslive.
Online Reporter