CAPE TOWN – A Parliamentary debate about the so-called Guptagate scandal is scheduled for June, but Members of Parliament (MPs) are already butting heads about how it should be held.

The ANC’s chief whip has accused the Democratic Alliance (DA) of wanting to make President Jacob Zuma the main focus of the upcoming debate about the influential family’s use of the Waterkloof Air Force base.

Eyewitness News revealed on 30 April that a jet chartered by the Gupta family controversially landed at the Waterkloof Air Force base with nearly 200 wedding guests on board.

DA Parliamentary Leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said, “The DA has been calling for the President to come to Parliament because this is a golden opportunity for him which we believe he should take up. It’s an opportunity for him to set the record straight.”

However, the ANC’s Moloto Mothapo said Zuma should not be the focus.

“He’s not supposed to be in Parliament when this matter is debated precisely because he is not a Member of Parliament in terms of the constitution and the rules of Parliament.”

National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu earlier granted the DA’s request that the issue be discussed as a matter of national importance.

The landing of the Guptas at the air base has created controversy throughout the country.

Opposition parties and the Congress of the South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) have condemned the incident citing security issues.

Meanwhile, government departments are currently investigating the saga.

Last week, Indian High Commissioner Virendra Gupta shrugged off several questions about the scandal, but did re-iterate that an application for landing authorisation was submitted in February.

The high commissioner said all the relevant details of the landing were handed over to the Department of International Relations and that an application was submitted at the end of February for the plane to land at the base as the aircraft was carrying government ministers.

DRUGS ON A PLANE

Meanwhile, Tshwane Metro Police said on Sunday they were now investigating the possibility of a video which allegedly shows what is believed to be drugs being off-loaded from a plane used by the controversial Gupta family.

According to the Sunday Independent, 11 metro police officers who were suspended for moonlighting as VIP security for the Gupta family, were in possession of the video.

The report suggests the officers had planned to use this video to blackmail police into dropping the charges against them, but the Tshwane Metro Police’s Console Tleane said they have yet to prove the existence of such a video.

“We don’t want to comment on this because we are doubting its existence their motive.”

Tleane said the internal processes against the 11 officers implicated in the Gupta wedding scandal will continue and criminal charges may be laid by the South African Police Service (SAPS).

PROPERTY TAXES

Meanwhile, the Gupta family on Sunday landed in hot water again as allegations that they received a massive property tax cut on their R26,5 million home in Saxonwold.

The City Press reported that the home had been valued for less than a third of its actual worth, and the Guptas are paying a fraction of the taxes on the property.

The report said that if the valuation of the home had been correct, the Guptas would have paid an extra R100,000 in property taxes per year.

DIPLOMATIC PASSPORTS

Media reports emerged on Sunday that the Guptas’ had tried to bully their way into receiving diplomatic passports.

International Relations at the weekend said if the Gupta family had applied for diplomatic passports they would have been denied such a privilege.

The family allegedly argued that they deserved these passports because they often travelled with President Jacob Zuma on trips to promote South Africa.

But the Department of International Relations’ Clayson Monyela said they have no record of such an application.

“We’ve got no record of such an application. Generally speaking, I can tell you that any individual that wants to ask for a diplomatic passport when they don’t qualify, our response will be that they cannot get a diplomatic passport if you are not a diplomat.”
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