Johannesburg - Non-profit Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has turned up the heat on former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane, accusing him of being the mastermind behind state capture in South Africa.
The organisation is the latest from civil society to condemn several ANC-aligned labour unions, especially Nehawu and Cosatu, for their demand to axe Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
The call gained momentum when Deputy President David Mabuza - ahead of the ANC 108 birthday celebration on January 8 - accused Gordhan and former Eskom board chairperson Jabu Mabuza of having misled President Cyril Ramaphosa that there would be no load shedding before January 13 this year.
Mabuza’s comments prompted Gordhan’s rivals in the ANC and labour unions to intensify attacks against him. But it was a media report on Saturday which irked and led Outa to lodge a scathing attack on Zwane.
It was reported that Zwane led a charge against Gordhan during an ANC national executive committee meeting on Friday.
Zwane reportedly wanted to know why the ANC allegedly treated Finance Minister Tito Mboweni and Gordhan as “super-ministers”.
On Tuesday, Rudie Heyneke - Outa portfolio manager on state capture - asked: “Why would anybody listen to Mosebenzi Zwane? This is the man who brought us the Vrede dairy farm debacle, the Waterkloof landing and an attempt to capture some of the R1.7billion in mine rehabilitation funds. He should be facing charges of corruption and treason.”
He added: “Since 2012 there has been a golden thread attaching Zwane to the Guptas. Outa believes Zwane had an improper and corrupt relationship with the Guptas, to the detriment of South Africa.”
Heyneke said Zwane should be facing criminal charges instead of being an MP on a publicly funded salary.
In October 2017, Outa submitted a complaint to the parliamentary Ethics Committee about Zwane.
In April 2018, Outa won a legal settlement which stopped R1.7bn in mine rehabilitation funds from being put under Gupta control at the Bank of Baroda. These funds, held in trust to pay for mine rehabilitation so the state and taxpayers do not have to fund this, were supposed to have been secured by Zwane, then mineral resources minister. He failed to protect these funds, so Outa had to go to court to do this.
Zwane was not available for comment on the remarks made by Outa.