Gupta probe complete

The interdepartmental investigation by directors-general into the Gupta plane landing scandal has been concluded.

State Security minster Siyabonga Cwele said they were now waiting for the report to be handed over to ministers in the security cluster.

"I understand they have finalised the report, they have met the deadline. What is left now is for them to present the report to ministers and the ministers will take the necessary action," he said.

A Jet Airways plane - chartered by the Gupta family and carrying 270 wedding guests from India - landed at the Waterkoof air force base, a national key point.

The guests were attending the wedding, in Sun City, of Vega Gupta and Aakash Jahajgarhia.

Chief of State Protocol Bruce Kotsoane and several high-ranking army officers have since been suspended.

The directors-general were given seven days to conduct and conclude the investigation.

Cwele said it was possible that the report would be made public and he denied allegations that he had personally suppressed an investigation by his own agency into the influence of the Gupta family on the ANC, saying no such investigation was initiated.

Meanwhile, Indian High Commissioner Virendra Gupta yesterday said that he is not related to the Gupta family.

"Gupta is a very common family name in India," he said.

He said he is from Delhi, while the Gupta family comes from Saharanpur.

He said the Indian High Commission had approached the chief of foreign affairs in the defence force to get approval for the plane to land at the Waterkloof base as it was "more convenient and better from a security point of view".

The Gupta family said they will fully co-operate with the investigations.

"The family is of the firm view that the public is entitled to the truth as far as these serious allegations are concerned," the family said yesterday. - Additional reporting by Schalk Mouton and Sapa