NDZ joins the 'me too' club: I met Ajay Gupta in official meetings

With the focus on state capture revolving around the Gupta family and meetings with political leaders, yet another cabinet minister has come out to acknowledge meeting members of the controversial family.

Minister in the presidency responsible for planning, monitoring and evaluation, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, is the latest in a series of ministers who have admitted meeting the Guptas.

Dlamini-Zuma revealed in a written reply to Parliament, published on Monday, that while she was foreign affairs minister, she attended official government meetings in which Ajay Gupta, then a member of the Brand South Africa board, was also present.

Dlamini-Zuma had the foreign affairs portfolio for 10 years between June 1999 and May 2009. She was responding to a written question from DA MP Shahid Esau, who wanted to know whether she had ever been influenced or whether any of her office employees had been influenced to take any official administrative action on behalf of or by close associates of the Gupta family.

Esau also asked Dlamini-Zuma about attending any meeting where the Guptas were present.

"No, I have never been influenced, nor have I influenced an employee to take administrative action on behalf of the person(s) specified," said Dlamini-Zuma in her written response.

She also revealed that she had accepted an invitation to attend Diwali celebrations at the Gupta family home. She didn't specify the year.

Finance minister Nhlanhla Nene fell on his sword last month following a public outcry over his different versions on whether and how many times he met the Guptas.

Nene told eNCA in an interview in April 2016 that he only "bumped into" the Guptas at public gatherings once or twice and had never had any engagements with or did anything for them.

But in his testimony to the Zondo judicial inquiry into state capture, he revealed that he visited the Guptas' home in Saxonwold four times as deputy minister, visits which he regarded as part of his tasks in engaging with different stakeholders in the economy. He also visited their businesses.

Two days later, Nene apologised for meeting the Guptas at their home and businesses and begged South Africans to forgive him. He later resigned as finance minister.

A leaked sworn statement signed by public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan to the Zondo commission reveals that the minister also came into contact with members of that family on at least three occasions, including during a meeting with Jacob Zuma in the former president's official residence.