Guptas helped pay for Zuma’s wife’s home - report

08 August 2017 - 11:09 By Timeslive
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Ajay and Atul Gupta.
Ajay and Atul Gupta.
Image: Muntu Vilakazi/Gallo Images

Financial records contained in leaked emails suggest the Gupta family and Duduzane Zuma paid as much as R3.4-million towards the bond on the home of President Jacob Zuma’s wife‚ Bongi Ngema-Zuma‚ according to a report on Tuesday.

The house‚ overlooking Pretoria and the Union Buildings‚ was acquired by Ngema-Zuma in 2010 for R5.24-million.

The Bank of Baroda bond financed R3.84-million of this purchase. Data from leaked emails show the bond was paid by the Guptas through Duduzane Zuma‚ at a rate of around R65 000 per month‚ reported Daily Maverick’s Scorpio investigative unit‚ together with amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism.

The report said bank records‚ accounting records and budgets show the Guptas and Duduzane Zuma paid as much as R3.4-million of the bond on the property‚ after making what appears to be an initial down payment of R1.15-million – giving a total of over R4.5-million.

It said a series of complex payments were made through various financial companies‚ including Mabengela Investments‚ a company that is majority owned and controlled by Duduzane Zuma and Rajesh “Tony” Gupta.

This is not the first time the Guptas have been accused of lending a financial hand to buy properties for members of the Zuma family.

In December 2015 Duduzane bought a R18-million luxury apartment inside the iconic Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The Sunday Times reported the purchase was conducted with “substantial assistance” from the Gupta family.

The Sunday Times also previously reported that the Guptas had purchased a mansion for President Zuma worth R330-million in the upmarket Emirates Hills suburb‚ also in Dubai. The Presidency dismissed the Sunday Times story as a fabrication. 


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