The questions that Zuma wouldn't answer

Thuli Madonsela wants President Jacob Zuma to tell her if the Guptas made his son Duduzane a billionaire, how often the president has visited the Gupta compound in Saxonwold, what gifts he has received from them and whether the influential family helped one of his wives buy a multimillion-rand house in an affluent Pretoria suburb.

These are among the 42 questions the public protector put to Zuma earlier this month, and which he has so far not answered.

The Sunday Times has seen a copy of the questions Madonsela gave Zuma on October 6, after he refused to answer her questions directly.

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They cover issues relating to Zuma's relationship with the Gupta family, the allegations that have been made against the Guptas by senior government members, various allegations that have been made against Zuma, and declarations made by the president to the cabinet.

Among the questions are:

• Has a member of the Gupta family ever given you or a member of your family a gift of any kind?

• Six months after you were elected president of the ANC, your son, Duduzane, and your daughter, Duduzile, were elevated to positions of directors in [Sahara, a Gupta-owned company]. Were you surprised at their sudden elevation at a relatively young age?

• I have received information that Ajay Gupta made Duduzane a billionaire and bought [your son] a house in Dubai. Is this true?

• By virtue of you and/or your son's personal and professional relationships with members of the Gupta family, did you ever consider that this would inevitably create a conflict of interest for you?

• Did you ever consider ... withdrawing from relevant proceedings of the cabinet, or at the very least declaring your son's personal and professional relationships with the Gupta family to mitigate a potential conflict of interest?

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• I have perused your declarations for the period 2009 to 2016. In all the declarations, there are no values. Why is that?

• In earlier years you declared the Waterkloof house used by Mrs Bongekile Ngema-Zuma as an asset and also indicated an amount of R18,000 per month. How do you reconcile this with the instalment in the mortgage bond from Bank of Baroda of R79,715.00? Why did JIC Mining provide security for the bond?

• Has the JG Zuma Foundation ever received any donation from the Guptas or Gupta-Zuma companies?

Madonsela noted there was no evidence of Zuma ever having expressed concern over alleged improper involvement of the Gupta family in the appointment of ministers or directors in state-owned enterprises, or use of his name to solicit favours by the Guptas.

"You are, however, on record as having denounced the allegations of state capture, stating 'there is no such thing', which ... was a public repudiation of allegations by deputy minister [Mcebisi] Jonas, Ms [Vytjie] Mentor and Mr [Themba] Maseko ... [of] allegations of state capture by the Guptas.

"In light of this, did you not consider that it was appropriate to at least institute an investigation, commission of inquiry, or suchlike, to test these allegations, before publicly repudiating these allegations?"

The questions were initially put to Zuma at a three-hour meeting between Madonsela, Zuma and his legal team in Pretoria 10 days ago. He declined to answer them, instead asking for them in writing and promising to respond by Monday.

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He has not yet responded, and on Thursday initiated legal action to stop Madonsela releasing her report on state capture.

A source close to Madonsela told the Sunday Times this week she suspected she had been "duped" into handing over the questions to Zuma.

But Zuma's spokesman, Bongani Ngqulunga, said yesterday that Zuma had never refused to answer the questions. "He has asked to be given adequate time to answer comprehensively various questions posed to him, some touching on matters dating back as early as 2009. The questions required him to speak to at least 21 people identified by the public protector.

"It is important to mention that the first time the president was asked to answer any questions was on October 2 2016. When the president met with the public protector on October 6 in Pretoria, he asked for the meeting to be postponed so he could get access to information that would enable him to answer the questions. The request was turned down and instead he was asked to answer written questions under oath."

Ngqulunga said Zuma was willing to answer any questions by the protector. "He has also asked to be given access to certain information as provided for in the Public Protector Act."

sub_head_start The questions Zuma was asked sub_head_end

The president's relationship with the Gupta family:

• Kindly explain how your relationship with the Gupta family started.

• How would you describe your recent relationship with the Gupta family? Who are you closest to?

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• How often do you visit the Gupta family at their Saxonwold residence?

• Besides visiting Saxonwold to service your friendship with the Gupta family, what are the other reasons why you have visited Saxonwold?

• Has a member of the Gupta family ever given you or a member of your family a gift, no matter how trivial? Please provide details.

Duduzane Zuma's relationship with the Gupta family

• How would you describe your son Duduzane Zuma's relationship with the Gupta family?

• How did Duduzane start working for Sahara Computers?

• Six months after you were elected president of the ANC, your son Duduzane and your daughter Duduzile were elevated to the positions of directors in the company. How and when did you learn about this? Were you surprised at their sudden elevation?

• I understand Duduzane resides at Saxonwold. Is this true and, if so, how did he end up living there?

• I have received information Ajay Gupta made Duduzane a billionaire. Is this true?

Allegations against the Gupta family:

• Ms Vytjie Mentor issued statements alleging a member of the Gupta family offered her a cabinet position during meetings at Saxonwold. The meeting with Ms Mentor apparently took place in October 2010. In return for this appointment, a member of the Gupta family wanted her to cancel an SAA route to India. What is your response?

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• Ms Mentor further alleges that you were present at Saxonwold when this offer was made. Is that true?

• Ms Mentor said she repeated the offer made to her and you failed to take action and merely said you would not have requested her to come if you were aware she was on crutches.

• Ms Mentor further alleges that she had battled to secure the meeting with you for months and that during her discussion with Mr Atul Gupta it became apparent that they knew about the agenda she had with you.

• Were you present at the Gupta residence that day?

• Mr Mcebisi Jonas, deputy finance minister, issued a statement alleging a member of the Gupta family offered him a cabinet position during a meeting in Saxonwold in October 2015. What is your response to this?

• Mr Themba Maseko, former CEO of government communication and information services, also issued a statement alleging that Ajay Gupta sought to influence spending by GCIS in favour of the New Age newspaper. Maseko alleged that he met Ajay Gupta at Saxonwold. What is your response to this?

• Mr Maseko alleged you called him and asked him to help the Gupta brothers. What is your response?

• Mr Maseko further alleges that his job was threatened if he didn't accede to their demands. When he asked how they would do this, they informed him that they have regular meetings with the president and that any minister that doesn't agree to transferring the budget would be "sorted out" by them. What is your response to this?

• EFF leader Mr Julius Malema alleged Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula admitted that he was informed he would become sports minister by the Guptas even before it was announced by you. What is your response?

• It has been reported in the media that several members of cabinet, high-profile businessmen and others visited Saxonwold. Please tell me whether each of the following people A) visited Saxonwold at the same time as you; B) do you know if they ever visited Saxonwold; C) what was the reason for their visits; D) if applicable, why did they visit Saxonwold with you?

1 Vytjie Mentor, 2 Mcebisi Jonas, 3 Themba Maseko, 4 Fikile Mbalula, 5 Jeff Radebe, 6 Lindiwe Sisulu, 7 Essop Pahad, 8 Aziz Pahad, 9 Rob Davies, 10 Malusi Gigaba, 11 Ben Martens, 12 Tina Joemat-Pettersson, 13 Mosebenzi Zwane, 14 Des van Rooyen, 15 Lynne Brown, 16 Kebby Maphatsoe, 17 Collen Maine, 18 Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, 19 Fana Hlongwane, 20 Brian Molefe, 21 Dudu Myeni.

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• It has been reported that a member of the Gupta family or a company linked to them assisted one of your wives to purchase a house in Waterkloof, Pretoria. Is this true and if so, why did they assist her?

Allegations against Zuma:

• What were the reasons for your removal of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister on 9 December 2015?

• What were the reasons for your appointment of Des van Rooyen as finance minister?

• What were the reasons for your abrupt removal of Des van Rooyen as finance minister four days later? Why was he appointed as minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs and minister Gordhan reinstated as minister of finance?

• The second complaint alleges you breached section 2.3 of the Executives Ethics Code by: exposing yourself to any situation involving the risk of a conflict between your official responsibilities and your private interests; using your position or any information entrusted to you, to enrich yourselves or improperly benefit any other person. How do you respond to these allegations?

• You were required by section 2 in the Executive Ethics Code to: declare any personal or private financial or business interest that you or a family member may have in a matter in relation to which you are required to take a decision as a member of the executive; withdraw from any proceedings of cabinet considering a matter in which you or a family member has any financial or business interest unless you decide you or your family member's interest is trivial or not relevant.

• By virtue of you and your son's personal and professional relationship with members of the Gupta family, did you ever consider this would create a conflict of interest for you?

• Did you ever consider withdrawing from relevant proceedings of cabinet or at very least declaring your son's personal and professional relationships with members of the Gupta family in order to mitigate a potential conflict of interest?

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Declaration made by the president in terms of the executive code:

• I have perused your declarations for the period 2009 to 2016. There are no values; why is that?

• Can the president confirm the declarations made to the cabinet secretariat are the complete declarations and there are no declarations elsewhere?

• In the earlier years, you declared the Waterkloof house used by Mrs Bongekile Ngema-Zuma as an asset and indicated an amount of R18,000 per month. How do you reconcile this with the instalment in the mortgage bond from the Bank of Baroda of R79,715. 00 monthly instalments. Why did JIC Mining Service - a Gupta-owned company - provide security for the bond?

• This declaration no longer appears in recent years, why?

• What is your relationship with Roy Moodley, owner of the Beachfront property in Durban? I noticed that he has provided use of the property to you.

• Has the Jacob Zuma Foundation ever received any donation from the Gupta family or any Gupta or Duduzane Zuma owned company?