The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) is pleased that the first accused emanating from its No Room To Hide report has appeared in court on charges relating to his involvement with the Gupta family’s plot to bribe former Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas.

Duduzane Zuma who is mentioned 103 times in the report “No room to Hide” (excluding annexures) has appeared in Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.

“It is about time that we begin to see our charges and allegations on state interference by the Gupta family taken seriously. Duduzane was the first person Outa laid charges against for State Capture. He is a central figure in our report which outlines the links between the Gupta and Zuma families,” said Ben Theron, Outa’s COO.

In April 2017, Outa started investigating and documenting the reality and extent of former President Jacob Zuma’s conduct and connection to state capture.

In June 2017 Outa submitted its report to Parliament requesting them to investigate these matters and in August that year, Outa laid charges of treason, racketeering, extortion, fraud and forgery against Duduzane Zuma and the Gupta brothers in connection with allegations of state capture. These allegations were directly linked to Zuma’s role in attempting to influence Jonas to take up the position of Finance Minister along and a wad of cash (R600 million according to Jonas).

Outa’s No Room To Hide report, which was made possible by its contributing supporters, has been a vital source in nailing corrupt officials and in various Parliamentary Inquiries (including the Eskom inquiry).

 

Issued by Outa