ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe. Picture: PUXLEY MAKGATHO
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe. Picture: PUXLEY MAKGATHO

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WATCH: Guptas offered me finance minister post, says Jonas

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AFRICAN National Congress secretary-general (ANC) Gwede Mantashe has warned of a "mafia state" following the frank admission on Wednesday by Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas that the Gupta’s had offered him the post of finance minister.

Mr Mantashe had in the past warned about the influence of the Guptas on individuals in the ANC. He reacted strongly to Mr Jonas’s statement, saying this was a question of a business developing into an "oligarch".

"If oligarchs cannot be disciplined by the state instead they discipline the state, we are going to develop into a mafia state where all what the state will be doing is to nurse interests of family businesses," he said in a telephone interview.

Mr Mantashe said the ANC at its January lekgotla sharply raised the danger of state capture but was accused of embarking on a "witch hunt".

He said that the party was now "heartened" that more and more people were bold enough to come forward and encouraged others to do the same.

Mr Mantashe would not be drawn on whether President Jacob Zuma would be asked for an explanation on this issue at the upcoming national executive committee (NEC) meeting.

The ANC’s top brass has met the Gupta family for an explain on the allegations regarding their influence on the government and on state-owned entities such as Eskom. The NEC will receive a report on the meeting over the weekend.

Mr Jonas on Wednesday confirmed he was approached by the Gupta family and offered the finance minister position before the axeing of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene.

"Members of the Gupta family offered me the position of minister of finance to replace then minister Nene, I rejected this out of hand. The basis of my rejection of the offer is that it makes a mockery of our constitution and hard-earned democracy," he said in a statement on Wednesday. "No one apart from the president appoints ministers."

After months of reports on the Gupta’s undue influence over Mr Zuma, Mr Jonas’s statement is the first confirmation, despite protests and denials from the family and silence on the matter from the president.

Mr Zuma has consistently defended his relationship with the Guptas and claims there is nothing untoward about it. Mr Jonas’s revelation disproves this and places the president in an awkward position ahead of this weekend’s crucial ANC NEC gathering.

The Gupta family on Wednesday continued to deny the allegations, describing it as "political point scoring between rival factions within the ANC".

A family spokesperson said suggestions that any member of the family or its associates had offered anyone a job in government was "totally false".

"We challenge minister Jonas to provide a full account of the supposed meeting that took place, under oath, in a court of law. Minister Jonas is attempting to cover up and divert attention away from his own relationships and practices. We are confident questions about his own ethical standards will be exposed," the family said.

"We will not provide any further running commentary on what is now just a politically motivated campaign against us."

Political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi said the Gupta’s influence was just the “tip of the iceberg” as the ANC was in the grip of commercial and ideological interests. He said the latest fights could be the manifestation of the “the unravelling of the ANC itself, because the ANC has become a snake that is eating itself from the tale or the ANC has now become like a cheese factory that is run by mice”.