The Pretoria High Court in Pretoria moved quickly to deal with political arguments yesterday so it could focus on the narrow legal argument of why Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan could not intervene in the matter between the banks and Gupta-linked companies.
Parties in the matter were encouraged to reach a settlement - but this was unsuccessful.
Jeremy Gauntlett SC, for Gordhan, told the court that although parties had agreed the minister could not intervene, there was no agreement on a declarator.
The case comes after President Jacob Zuma had tasked a ministerial committee comprising Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant and Gordhan to investigate why the country's four banks had blacklisted the Gupta family and their companies.
Gordhan argued it would be wrong for him or any other cabinet member to get involved in a matter between a private bank and its customers.
Court turns down Zuma’s bid to join Gupta-Gordhan-banks case The High Court in Pretoria has told President Jacob Zuma’s legal representatives that he is not formally part of the process and so cannot be added as an “interested party”.
The first order of business for the court was dealing with Zuma's bid to be added as an "interested party", which was unsuccessful.
A full bench of the court dismissed Zuma's application, saying he had not followed proper procedure.
It also dealt with applications brought by Oakbay Investments and Gordhan to have certain documents struck out from the case.
The court agreed to the removal of a Financial Intelligence Centre certificate detailing 72 "suspicious" transactions on Gupta-linked accounts from the court record, as requested by Oakbay.
The certificate had formed part of Gordhan's founding affidavit.
Guptas go on the offensive In a new twist in its offensive against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, the Gupta family, through its company Sahara Computers, has launched a court application for a court order that he pay the costs of his court action involving the family.
Cedric Puckrin SC, for the company, argued that the certificate was not relevant to the case, while Gauntlett argued that the certificate showed the dimensions of the seriousness of the matter.
Yesterday's ruling now means that details of the transactions, totalling about R6.4-billion, would not be made public.
In what could be seen as a victory for the Guptas, an affidavit submitted by Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas would not form part of the matter. This was in relation to an alleged meeting between Jonas and the Guptas in which the deputy minister claimed he was offered a promotion and R600-million to bring business to the politically-connected family.
In contrast to this, the court also found in favour of Gordhan's strike-out application against allegations that there was political motive for bringing the court application.
He scored another victory when Oakbay agreed to withdraw its allegation that he had colluded with the banks against the Guptas.
The court still needs to make a cost order. Arguments regarding Gordhan's declaratory order will continue today.