Guptas haven't fled SA - Oakbay CEO

Johannesburg - Members of the Gupta family, who are friends of South African President Jacob Zuma, haven’t fled the country following a wave of controversy surrounding their alleged influence over the nation’s leader.

“They are not hiding,” Nazeem Howa, the chief executive officer of Oakbay Investments, said on Monday in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Johannesburg. “They’ve not fled the country.” Rapport newspaper said on Sunday the Gupta family had left the country, citing flight data and an unidentified eyewitness at a Johannesburg airport.

Oakbay Investments is entirely owned by members of the Gupta family. That company owns 80% of Johannesburg-listed Oakbay Resources and Energy [JSE:ORL].

Atul Gupta and Varun Gupta resigned their positions at Oakbay Resources on Friday after financial services groups - including accounting firm KPMG and Barclays Africa Group’s Absa unit - dropped the company and other Gupta-controlled businesses as clients, as questions about the family’s influence over Zuma mounted.

Zuma’s son, Duduzane, who stepped down as a director of the company’s Shiva Uranium unit, said he is planning to divest from the businesses.

Zuma is facing mounting pressure to resign as president following a court ruling over his response to a graft ombudsman report and after allegations by senior officials of the ruling African National Congress that the Guptas offered them cabinet posts in exchange for business concessions.

The claims have spurred probes by the party and the public protector. Howa said there is no evidence of corruption against the Guptas.

South Africa’s four biggest banks have given Oakbay until the end of May before its accounts are closed, Howa said.

“It’s unprecedented for the four major banks to walk away from an institution,” he said.

7 500 jobs in jeopardy

The Gupta family’s businesses span media, computers, mining and engineering. Howa said 7 500 jobs are under threat because the businesses can’t operate without those bank accounts.

While the family is distancing itself from its business, “there’s no indication at this point” that it’s planning to divest, Howa said.