Ajay Gupta: Mcebisi Jonas is painting 'a false picture' of me
Ajay Gupta, patriarch of the Gupta family who is at the centre of state capture allegations, has taken issue with former deputy minister of finance Mcebisi Jonas and has rejected key allegations made against him.
In a sworn affidavit, deposed in Dubai where Gupta is in self-imposed exile and stamped by the South African consul general in the city, he claims that he was nowhere near the family's Saxonwold compound when Jonas says he was offered a ministerial position in October 2015.
He states "categorically" that he never met Jonas on that date and that his colleagues, including Ronica Ragavan who has emerged as one of the prime Gupta operators, can attest to the fact that he was at the company's office on Katherine Street in Sandton.
He adds that he gave his cellphone records – which supposedly corroborate his statement – to then Public Protector Thuli Madonsela during her investigation. He accuses her of offering him a "superficial" interview.
Gupta also believes that Jonas was uncertain about who it was that he met at Saxonwold and argues that even based on Jonas' testimony it could have been his brother, Rajesh. Ajay Gupta, however, does not deny that Jonas was at the family home on that date or that one of the other brothers, Atul or Rajesh, could have been there.