'I never engaged Guptas beyond basic pleasantries' – Ramaphosa's affidavit
President Cyril Ramaphosa has told the State capture commission of inquiry, in a sworn affidavit, that he never engaged members of the Gupta family beyond "basic greetings, pleasantries and common courtesies".
"I have met two of the brothers on three or four occasions.
"My interactions with the Gupta brothers were at events, where nothing of any consequence was discussed. I never engaged with them beyond basic greetings, pleasantries and common courtesies," Ramaphosa said in an affidavit dated July 2, 2019.
Commission chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, made the affidavit public on Friday following a request from Ramaphosa "to avoid speculation".
This comes after Zondo asked the president to clarify if he had any relations with the Gupta family and its entities or Bosasa personalities and its entities.
However, the president only recalls one instance in which he was in the presence of the Guptas and "matters of substance were discussed". This was in relation to the issue of banks.
"One of them arrived for the meeting and I think it was Tony Gupta. At this meeting, held during April 2016, various issues were discussed, including the closure of the bank accounts of one of their businesses, Oakbay," Ramaphosa explained.
It was in this meeting where Ramaphosa says he raised the issue of the landing of the 747 jumbo jet at the Waterkloof air force base in 2013.
"I stated that they had, through their actions, placed the former president in an invidious position," he added.
Turning to Bosasa, the president claimed that while it was entirely possible that he may have interacted with former Bosasa executive, Angelo Agrizzi, in his position at the Molope Group [where Agrizzi worked for Grantham Catering which was a subsidiary]. Ramaphosa stated that "he does not recall doing so".
"In my work with the Molope Group, the company would have been in direct competition with Bosasa at the time. I may therefore have interacted with Bosasa directors or employees at the time or been at the same events as them. However, I have no personal recollection of any such interactions," the six-page affidavit reads.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation

















