DA received donation from Gupta exec
2013-01-29 14:38
Johannesburg - An executive in a company owned by the
Guptas donated money to the DA, its leader Helen Zille said on Tuesday.
She said the DA made a "commitment of
confidentiality" to its donors, but that media reports claiming she had
solicited funds from the Guptas had prompted her to speak on the matter.
"When I heard this, I decided to take the
unprecedented step of telephoning our donor to ask him to release me from our
commitment of confidentiality," she said in a statement.
"He declined. He said he did not want his name in
the papers. He is not a Gupta. He is an executive in a company owned by the
Guptas," said Zille.
"I gave him the undertaking I would not mention his
name, but I said, given the wild and unfounded speculation [masquerading as
fact], I would have to set the record straight."
Unsourced reports about funding for the DA surfaced on
Saturday.
The Weekend Argus quoted unnamed sources as saying Zille
went to the Gupta family's estate in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, in 2011 to ask
for a donation.
She left with a "substantial" cheque, believed
to be several hundred thousand rand, the paper reported.
Zille said in the run-up to the 2009 elections, DA North
West leader Chris Hattingh contacted the fundraising office, and said a
long-standing acquaintance of his wanted to donate to the party's election
campaign.
Zille met the donor and received a R200 000 pledge.
"The donor then suggested that I come and fetch the
cheque at the Guptas' house in Saxonwold, and it transpired that he was a
senior executive in one of the Guptas' companies.
"I and my colleague Ian Davidson duly went to the
Guptas' home, ate some of the most delicious food I have ever eaten, and
received the cheque for R200 000 from the individual," she said.
It was a personal cheque from his personal bank account
and did not come from a Gupta company or from the Guptas.
The businessman pledged another R100 000 in his personal
capacity later during the campaign, said Zille.
In 2010, when he pledged another R100 000, the cheque was
made out in the name of a company of which the donor is a senior executive.
This company was either partially or wholly-owned by the Guptas, said Zille.
It was not one of their known companies like Sahara
Computers or The New Age newspaper.
ANC link
In 2011, Hattingh asked Zille to approach the executive
again.
"By this time, I was becoming concerned about news
stories linking donations from companies associated with the Guptas to the
ANC’s power abuse and political patronage," she said.
"Even though it was stressed that the person would
make the donation in his individual capacity, I did not think it wise to pursue
the relationship. I therefore declined the request for an appointment."
The same happened in 2012 and Zille declined the meeting
again.
On Monday, The New Age newspaper quoted ANC Western Cape
leader Marius Fransman as saying the DA had received a R4m donation last week,
and had used the money to refurbish its offices in Cape Town.
Zille said there was a risk associated with the
confidentiality of donors.
"Such as the opportunity this creates for people
with malicious agendas - such as Marius Fransman - to invent insane
allegations, such as that the DA received R4m from the Guptas to renovate our
Cape Town offices," she said.
"That is so ludicrous that most thinking people
would just dismiss it."
- SAPA
