Cape Town – If you want to know how Atul Gupta is feeling about the “State of Capture” report released by the office of the Public Protector on Wednesday, his retweets of some of Twitter's most boisterous political commentators are the closest you will get.
Gupta, who has not responded to media queries by News24 or Fin24, was on Twitter on Wednesday after former public protector Thuli Madonsela's report into allegations that his family had captured key politicians and civil servants to ensure government tenders went their way.
Madonsela's report was damning and called on President Jacob Zuma - the Guptas' friend - to launch an independent judicial inquiry into the allegations. She provided strict timelines and conditions to ensure the inquiry is independent and is executed.
Gupta, whose surname is mentioned hundreds of times in the 355-page document, started off by retweeting Kenny Kunene’s post, in which the sushi king said the Democratic Alliance (DA) had captured Madonsela.
He pointed out her new job at Stellenbosch, “where Johan Rupert is chancellor” (sic).
READ: Zuma may have 'conflict of interest' in Gupta bank saga
Another Kunene retweet claimed that Advocate Louisa Zondo, who resigned on Wednesday as Public Protector CEO, had been hired by the DA. Gupta also retweeted one of his newspaper reporters’ tweets that made the same allegation.
They were assuming a tweet by Bo Mbindwane was correct, after he claimed Zondo had been appointed strategic executive head for the DA chief whip in Pretoria.
The tweet was in fact entirely untrue and was dispelled by Tshwane Executive Mayor Solly Msimanga’s spokesperson, Samkelo Mgobozi. “Advocate Zondo has not been appointed,” he told the Citizen.
Gupta then retweeted a post by Pinky Khoabane, who said “the few excerpts from our media suggest state capture report is a lot of allegations, no evidence and recommendations for full commission”.
READ: Nene thought talk of his removal was ‘just a bluff’
Sipho Khuzwayo was also tweeting, saying “Thuli played us all. Guptas right now reading the #StateCaptureReport filled with only ‘may’, ‘appear’, ‘alleged’ and no concrete proof”.
Gupta-owned media ANN7 and the New Age were following a similar stance on the report, focusing on analysts and commentators that criticised the veracity of the report.
This was significantly different to other media groups, which dissected the report, finding missing pieces to the state capture narrative that has been emerging over the past year.
READ: Madonsela nails Eskom over Gupta coal tender
Download the full report here.
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