Vytjie Mentor. Picture: TREVOR SAMSON
Vytjie Mentor. Picture: TREVOR SAMSON

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A FORMER African National Congress (ANC) MP claimed on Tuesday she had been offered a Cabinet post by the politically connected Gupta family, prompting struggle veteran Andrew Mlangeni to warn that President Jacob Zuma may be guilty of "serious dereliction" of duty.

The claim by Vytjie Mentor is the third instance of the family being named as peddling positions on behalf of the president. The ruling party’s national executive committee (NEC) is expected to discuss the influence of the family when it meets at the weekend, with the party’s "top six" officials giving a report on their meeting with the Guptas last month. The first politician to be named as a Gupta-influenced Cabinet appointment was Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula.

Last week, it emerged that Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas was offered the finance minister post by the family before Nhlanhla Nene was fired on December 9. Ms Mentor posted on Tuesday on Facebook that the Gupta family "asked me to become minister of public enterprises when Barbara Hogan got the chop (in 2010), provided I would drop the SAA (South African Airways) flight-route to India and give (it) to them. I refused and so I was never made a minister. The president was in another room when they offered me this in Saxonwold," she said.

Ms Mentor, a generally outspoken ANC leader, last month spoke of being embarrassed and "pained" after Mr Zuma’s dramatic climbdown and offer to pay towards the cost of the Nkandla upgrades.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Presidency said Mr Zuma had "no recollection of Ms Mentor. He is therefore unable to comment on any alleged incident in her career."

In the Jonas matter, driving the planned multibillion-rand nuclear deal and the SAA fleeting contract in a manner that benefited the Gupta family businesses were allegedly part of the conditions of the job.

The allegations have been flatly denied by the family.

Mr Mlangeni said though he could not vouch for the veracity of such jobs-for-deals claims, it was a serious accusation that someone other than Mr Zuma or senior ANC members were involved in the appointment of Cabinet ministers.

Also, Mr Zuma was prohibited from delegating his constitutional duties to others, said the veteran. "The nearest thing he could do was to seek advice from the secretary-general of the ANC or from his deputy, (and say): ‘chaps I have this problem, I want to appoint a minister, here (and) here. Who do you suggest I could appoint?’ That is the nearest he can go. But for him to delegate his power to someone who is not even a member of the NEC to appoint a minister, it’s heading for dereliction of duties. (It is a) very serious matter. I have never heard of that."

Mr Mlangeni is one of the members of the ANC’s integrity commission tasked with investigating moral and disciplinary breaches in the party. He said the commission worked on the basis of complaints, and none had been brought forward on this matter.

Corruption Watch executive director Dave Lewis said the politicians who claimed to have been offered Cabinet posts by the Gupta family should seek legal advice on whether they were obliged, in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, to formally report such advances to the authorities.

It would be "certainly corrupt" if the politicians were offered the jobs for a "private consideration" such as Ms Mentor’s statement that she was expected to "drop" the SAA flight-route to India and give it to them.