Introducing more black participants into the water and sanitation industry is more important than questions about whether Gupta-linked companies have benefited from contracts from her department, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said on Friday.
Replying to a question about whether any Gupta-linked companies had benefited from departmental contracts, the minister could say neither yes nor no. She insisted that she did not know what the definition of a "Gupta-linked company" was.
"I am not obsessed by that," Mokonyane said at a media briefing ahead of her budget vote speech in the National Assembly.
"What I am obsessed with is these companies that have been in the water sector for a period of more than 20 years, and even dating back to post the [Second] World War."
It was problematic that major white-owned companies such as Group Five continued to benefit from contracts related, for example, to the construction of dams and other water projects. The cost of the Hazelmere Dam, which is being constructed by Group Five, had escalated by about 70%.
A closed arrangement had existed for a long time in which seven big white-owned companies had dominated the water sector.
The minister said her department would be implementing government policies to empower blacks and women and people living with disabilities.
Mokonyane, who is said to have had an acrimonious relationship with former finance minister Pravin Gordhan, said there was a good co-operative and mutually understanding relationship with the Treasury and the Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba.
The Treasury was also supporting the department both at a political and administrative level, the minister said.
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