'We're not captured by the Guptas' - NUM

Cape Town – The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is outraged over allegations that the Union has been “captured by the Gupta family”.

The union issued a strongly worded statement following the broadcast of a report on eNCA on Thursday in which NUM General Secretary David Sipunzi acknowledged that the Gupta’s Oakbay Resources had funded his 2012 campaign for office. 

NUM also confirmed receiving R1.5m in donations from Oakbay to fund its central committee conference that was held in June this year. 

“The money was paid directly to the service provider for accommodation. It was never paid to the NUM's account,” the Union said in its statement.

“It is a normal process that every time when there is a congress or central committee, we fundraise and there is nothing wrong with that. There are other companies that were approached for sponsorship money to contribute towards the NUM central committee.

"The NUM is not captured by the Guptas and it will never be captured by anyone.”

READ: NUM to Guptas: Our bank is not for sale - report  

NUM called the report on eNCA and “appalling circus” and accused it of only relying on an interview with Sipunzi. 

“Secretary David Sipunzi was trying to set the record straight,” the statement read.

According to NUM, Sipunzi, who came into office in 2012, had “nothing to hide” and for that reason he granted eNCA the interview. 

NUM said the report on eNCA was a “serious investigative news story that is going to tarnish the image of the NUM and its leaders without meticulously investigated facts”.
 
“It is also disturbing that during the interview the NUM General Secretary David Sipunzi mentioned the name of the current Deputy President Joseph Montisetse as one of the people who confided in him that Shiva Uranium lent him a car to use in 2012.”

However, eNCA failed to interview Montisetse about the allegations, NUM said. 

“NUM is not going to comment until eNCA can provide us with meticulously investigated facts that the NUM has been captured by the Guptas,” it concluded.