Former president Jacob Zuma was forced to leave his ministers waiting at a cabinet meeting to attend to the Guptas and was "apologetic" for having kept the family waiting, the state-capture commission heard on Monday.
The commission also heard that the Guptas bragged about Zuma’s loyalty and that he would always defend them. It was told that the Gupta brothers and the president had "laughed heartily" about the Waterkloof landing scandal.
Rajesh Sundaram, former consulting editor of the now defunct ANN7, testified in detail on Zuma being central in setting up the 24-hour news channel with the controversial family. The Gupta family and its relationship with Zuma are central to allegations of state capture.
Deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, who is chairing the commission of inquiry into state capture, has heard many allegations that Zuma and his son Duduzane did the family’s bidding in business deals.
Duduzane is a business partner of the Guptas.
"What I found during my experience here was that although Duduzane Zuma was a shareholder [at Infinity Media‚ which owned ANN7]‚ it was Jacob Zuma who was more actively involved in the meetings that were held … Duduzane’s involvement in the running of the station was minimal; there was just one meeting where he had a small appearance‚" Sundaram testified.
"But the president was very much involved in the running of the station. There were regular review meetings where he would give feedback. There was confidential information, which you don’t give out early in the project, that was disclosed to
the president.
"I thought it was funny that you would hand out a document, which had all the secrets of the project to a public office. Only later‚ I realised it was because he had a much bigger interest in the station."
Official residence
Sundaram said that he was part of a Gupta-led delegation that held at least three meetings with Zuma at his official residence in Pretoria in 2013.
At the first meeting with Zuma in June 2013, Sundaram was struck by the relative lack of security at Zuma’s residence. He said he did not know if this was because they were part of the Gupta delegation.
That meeting was attended by Moegsien Williams, former editor of the now defunct New Age, Nazeem Howa, former CEO of Oakbay Investments, Gupta lieutenant Ashu Chawla and the Gupta brothers.
Sundaram said that Atul Gupta had been very impatient and wanted the meeting with Zuma to get under way
as soon as they arrived at Zuma’s residence. "Ajay Gupta kept saying to Ashu Chawla, go to the president, tell him the Gupta brothers are waiting ... an hour later, he said: ‘We can’t keep waiting [any longer]’."
When he finally attended to the Guptas, the former head of state was sorry for having delayed them. "He was apologetic," said Sundaram. "He said: ‘Sorry, I had lots of guests.’"
The meeting was to give Zuma a detailed outlook of what ANN7 would look like. "In a sense, it was a report which had all the details about the station. It was more like a shareholder review of the station," he said. Sundaram said that Zuma was warm to the Guptas, and emphasised that the meetings had taken place after the Waterkloof incident, in which a private jet carrying guests to the Gupta family’s lavish wedding in Sun City landed at the Waterkloof airbase, a national key point in April 2013.
The jet, carrying more than 200 guests attending the wedding of the niece of the politically connected Guptas, sparked a national rumpus with some accusing the family of abusing state resources. Zuma had laughed about jokes made by the Gupta delegation about the Waterkloof scandal during a meeting. "He had a hearty laugh," said Sundaram."
Atul Gupta had told them that the bond they had with Zuma was "deep" and likened it to a rock. "He said: ‘The president will defend us always’."
The former president was said by senior officials to have approved the landing, but Zuma denied this. Zuma had defended his relationship with the Guptas in parliament in 2013, saying that he was entitled to be friends with whomever he chose.
"There was nothing that could indicate the Waterkloof incident had any impact on the relationship they had."
Zuma was referred to as Number 9 by the Guptas, said Sundaram, and when he questioned that he was told that this was Zuma’s code name when he was in the ANC’s underground intelligence structures.
Sundaram said that on another occasion Ajay Gupta was agitated that the Electoral Commission of SA had millions of rand for advertising but was not advertising with The New Age. "He took the issue to the president and we were assured that the president would look into that."
The Gupta delegation, of which Sundaram was part, held a second meeting with Zuma
in July 2013, at which editorial matters were discussed. It was at this meeting that Zuma suggested who should be hired, including "sons and daughters of his colleagues in the ANC".
Sundaram described ANN7 as more of a propaganda station than a credible media outlet.
He regretted that he had been part of a team that set up a station "for the mafia" to use for propaganda purposes. The station was viewed as casting the ANC and Zuma’s controversy-plagued administration in a positive light.
Sundaram said Zuma was made to watch bulletins at the third meeting. At the fourth meeting, held a day before ANN7 was launched, Zuma was showed around the studio. He said Zuma had remarked during the third meeting that the ANN7 bulletins were "much better" than the SABC’s, which he described as "horrible".
Giving his testimony at the commission, Sundaram said his experiences at the Gupta TV had spurred him to pen his tell-all book Indentured: Behind the Scenes at Gupta TV.
The book chronicles how Sundaram was head-hunted by the Gupta family to lead a team of Indian and SA broadcast professionals in launching the ANN7 news channel; how
Zuma was intimately involved in launching the station; Sundaram’s public fallout with the Guptas; the threats to his
life; and the blow that this had dealt to his health. With Amil Umraaw
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