The Gupta family allegedly helped bankroll one of President Jacob Zuma’s wives by helping her get a multi-million Rand home loan.
According to City Press, questions were raised in 2012 about whether the Guptas helped first lady Bongi Ngema-Zuma secure a R3.84m home loan from an Indian state-owned bank.
The allegation was denied but now City Press reports that there may have been some truth to it.
The home loan was reported to be for a R5.2m mansion in Pretoria’s larney Waterkloof Ridge suburb.
The house was bought in 2010 and belongs to Sinqumo Trust, believed to be named after one of Zuma’s sons.
The only disclosed trustee is first lady Bongi Ngema-Zuma, City Press reports.
Two weeks ago, the newspaper was granted access to the share registers of various Gupta companies, including Westdawn Investments, which trades as JIC Mining Services.
Inside the register, City Press found excerpts from minutes of a board meeting held in Midrand on February 10, 2010, in which JIC agreed to bankroll the purchase of the Waterkloof house by the first lady’s trust.
The minutes pasted into the register read: “Bank of Baroda Johannesburg has agreed to sanction certain credit facility to Sinqumo Trust aggregating R3 840 000.
“The bank has asked for the corporate guarantee of the company to secure the loan.”
At the time, Zuma had just married Tobeka Madiba, but it was widely reported that he and Ngema-Zuma were engaged.
A few months later, Ngema-Zuma landed a job as JIC’s head of communications and marketing.