Cape Town - As Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan battles the wealthy Gupta family over the closure of their bank accounts, he is now involved in another court case relating to a bid to buy a bank, it was revealed on Wednesday.
Vardospan - headed by Hamza Farooqui and Salim Essa, close associates of the controversial Gupta family - has filed court papers calling on Gordhan to either "put up or shut up" on the acquisition of Habib Bank.
Essa, a director of VR Laser Services, which is partly owned by the Gupta family’s Oakbay Investments, and Farooqui had bid to buy all of Habib Overseas Bank’s South African assets.
READ: Gupta allies clear hurdle to buy bank
The application by Vardospan to buy Habib Overseas Bank’s local unit was submitted in August 2016 and approved by the Competition Commission in January 2017. The commission said it approved the intermediate merger without conditions.
However, the bid is still pending approval from the minister of finance and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).
"It is plain to see that a transformational deal for black South Africans is being stalled by the finance minister," said Vardospan director Hamza Farooqui in a statement.
"What is his motive? Is he just protecting his friends and colleagues in South Africa's major banks in which he owns shares? We have been left with no alternative but to take this to court."
READ: Sarb opposes Gupta associate’s bank bid
The SARB recommended rejecting Vardospan's bid to buy Habib Bank, Bloomberg reported in February. This related to concerns about the source of Farooqui and Essa's income and tax declarations, according to sources.
Vardospan said the acquisition would bring new competition to a sector dominated by the big five banks. It added that it would prioritise the provision of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs.
In his current court bid, Gordhan is seeking a declaratory order to protect the Treasury’s executive from having to intervene in the closure of the Guptas’ bank accounts by the country’s top four banks.
The minister, together with his deputy Mcebisi Jonas and Treasury staff, made a brief appearance in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday.
Judgment was reserved on Wednesday in the Gordhan / Gupta banks case.
READ: High Court reserves judgment in Gupta-Gordhan bank case
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