Howa’s health prevented him assisting with public protector’s probe‚ says Guptas’ lawyer

A lawyer for the Guptas on Tuesday dismissed suspicions around the surprise resignation of Nazeem Howa as non-executive director of Oakbay Resources.

“The continued strain will only sacrifice his health‚” Gert van der Merwe told Radio 702.

Howa had on Monday cited “ill health” when he announced his departure‚ which came just days after a bombshell affidavit by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan about nearly R7-billion worth of financial transactions made by companies aligned to the Gupta family.

It also came against the background of the delayed release of former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report into state capture‚ in which the Guptas are expected to feature prominently.

Asked whether Howa was “jumped” or “pushed”‚ Van der Merwe said “neither” and that added that his “friend” had been through “a patch of bad health over the last week or two”.

“So much so that when we had to give evidence at the public protector‚ and that is recorded‚ he was unable to assist in that regard with instructions.

“His medical advice‚ and I that can tell you I can stand witness to‚ the continued strain will only sacrifice his health‚” he added.

On the list of transactions complied by Gordhan‚ Van der Merwe said he would “prepare a list of each of the transactions and give details of every transaction”.

He said there was a “difference between a ‘reportable’ transaction in terms of Fica (Financial Intelligence Centre Act) and ‘suspicious and unusual’ transactions‚ and unfortunately the founding affidavit does not seem to distinguish between those two”.