JOHANNESBURG – President Jacob Zuma’s son, Duduzane, and members of the Gupta family resigned from a South African mining firm on Friday citing “a sustained political attack”, the company said on Friday.
Oakbay Resources said in a statement that non-executive Chairman, Atul Gupta, and CEO, Varun Gupta, had also resigned with immediate effect. Duduzane Zuma resigned as a non-executive director of Shiva Uranium, a major subsidiary of the company.
“This decision follows a sustained political attack on the Company, and the concern that the jobs and livelihoods of nearly one thousand employees would be at immediate risk as a result of the outgoing director’s association with the company,” Oakbay Resources said in a statement.
A number of South African companies, including First National Bank (FNB), Barclays Africa, KPMG and Sasfin have closed the accounts of Oakbay Investments, the holding company for the Gupta family’s businesses, following allegations over their relationship with President Zuma.
Allegations of the Guptas meddling in politics surfaced last month, when deputy finance Minister said they may have had a hand in Zuma sacking his finance minister Nhlanhla Nene.
Zuma has denied numerous allegations of the Guptas wielding undue influence. The Guptas have also dismissed reports of their alleged influence, saying they are pawns in a political plot to get Zuma out of office. REUTERS
