Treasury backs Gordhan's affidavit on Gupta-owned companies

October 21, 2016 8:49 AM

The Gupta-owned Oakbay has said the Gordhan affidavit is flawed, and that they would challenge it in a court.

South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan gestures as he arrives to deliver his 2016 budget address to the parliament in Cape Town, February 24, 2016.

South Africa's Treasury on Friday supported a court application by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan linking Oakbay Investments and its owners, who have close ties to President Jacob Zuma, to suspicious transactions.

Gordhan said in a court affidavit that 6.8 billion rand ($485 million) in payments made by Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta and companies they control and other individuals with the same surname had been reported to authorities as suspicious since 2012.

"This will provide an opportunity for all issues to be properly ventilated in an open court," the Treasury said in a statement.

($1 = 14.0277 rand)