IEC confirms Atul Gupta is registered to vote
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has confirmed that Atul Gupta’s name does appear on the voters roll.
Atul Gupta, who is being sought by the Hawks for his role in the Estina Dairy Farm project, is registered to vote at Saxonworld Primary.
The IEC faced a barrage of questions on the voting status of the Gupta brothers amid the controversy over their citizenship.
The IEC briefed the media on the voter registration weekend on Saturday and Sunday.
The IEC’s deputy chairperson Terry Tselane says they held discussions with the Department of Home Affairs soon after minister Malusi Gigaba said Ajay and Atul Gupta were not South African citizens.
“We can confirm that a certain Atul Gupta is properly registered at (a) primary school in Saxonworld. In order for a person to register you have to be a South African citizen and you’ve got to be in possession of either a bar-coded ID or alternatively you’ve got to have a smart card. Those are the only things we require from our side. But an important element also is that to register you’ve got to present yourself in person. So you can’t say someone took your ID and registered somewhere.”
IEC chief Sy Mamabolo says they also verified the voting status of two other Gupta brothers.
“We looked looked at three ID numbers belonging to Mr Ajay Gupta, Mr Atul Gupta and Rajesh (Tony) Gupta. Mr Ajay Gupta is not on the voters roll. The custodianship of citizenship rests with Home Affairs, so I am addressing myself to the voters roll. Mr Ajay is not on the voters roll. We can confirm that Mr Atul Gupta is on the voters roll as is Mr Rajesh Gupta.
On Tuesday, Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba said Ajay and Atul Gupta do not hold citizenship, even though he had said in June 2017 that the Guptas had been naturalised.