South Africa’s Parliament said on Tuesday that the probe into the naturalisation of the controversial Indian Gupta family should be finalised as soon as possible.
“This matter has been in the public domain without resolution for too long,” Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs said.
“The committee is thus intending to bring this matter to finality,” said Committee Chairperson Hlomani Chauke.
He said his committee has set aside three days to hold the investigation into the process followed in the naturalisation of the Gupta family.
Malusi Gigaba, Minister of Home Affairs and Mkhuseli Apleni, former director general at the Department of Home Affairs, are among the people to be summoned by Parliament, according to Chauke.
The two men allegedly handled the Guptas’ naturalisation application.
The minister said any addition to the list will be determined by what information is received from the initial hearings, scheduled for Wednesday to Friday.
Chauke said the committee has concluded the initial phase of the inquiry (collection of all relevant information) and has identified gaps which need to be clarified by certain people to assist the committee to arrive at a conclusion.
The committee considers it a must for the identified individuals to attend the hearings and will request Parliament Speaker Baleke Mbete to summon those that are not prepared to appear, Chauke said.
The wealthy Gupta family, which is embroiled in a series of corruption scandals in South Africa, was granted South African citizenship between 2002 and 2006 after entering South Africa in the early 1990s.
The Guptas are accused of collaborating with former president Jacob Zuma and some senior government officials in looting from the state coffers, known as state capture.
South African police have launched a manhunt for some of the Gupta family members, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
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