Cosatu deciding who should probe Guptas

Johannesburg - The Congress of SA Trade Unions is deciding on which institution would be best placed to probe allegations against the Gupta family, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Friday.

"We've just decided on Wednesday on this and we are now going to operationalise this by finding an institution to check on all those questions raised," he said.

In a statement after a meeting of Cosatu's central executive committee, the federation voiced its concern at the "growing number" of reports and allegations that the family was involved - along with President Jacob Zuma's son, Duduzane - in mining, property and other deals.

Among Mail & Guardian reports about the Guptas was one indicating that the family and Zuma's son, Duduzane, would benefit from a proposed multibillion-rand Indian steel investment bolstered by government intervention.

While the federation recognised that newspapers' reporting on this family - Indian nationals who are reportedly close to the president - may have their "own agendas", it would commission "independent research" into the allegations.

The probe would determine: if the Gupta's success amounted to "plundering" of the South African economy. If so, what were the implications of the involvement of "other role players in the plundering" and whether the media attention received by the Gupta family was merely a "negative pre-occupation and a jealousy".

It would also look into whether the Gupta family used "underhand means and political influence to advance its interests".

Vavi said the matter was not raised at a two-day alliance summit with the ANC, the SA Communist Party and the SA National Civics Organisation.

The Gupta's spokesperson Gary Naidoo told the New Age newspaper, owned by the Guptas, that the family welcomed the call by Cosatu and that the family would give it their full co-operation.