VIDEO: Deputy finance minister confirms advance by Guptas

Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas has confirmed reports that he was offered the post of finance minister by the wealthy Gupta family, who is close to President Jacob Zuma.

“Members of the Gupta family offered me the position of minister of finance to replace then Minister (Nhlanhla) Nene. I rejected this out of hand,” Jonas said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The basis of my rejection of their offer is that it makes a mockery of our hard earned democracy, the trust of our people and

no one apart from the President of the Republic appoints ministers.”

(Video: SABC)

Jonas added that he had not discussed the matter with the deputy secretary general of the ANC, Jessie Duarte. Treasury has rejected press reports that a few days after Jonas turned down the Gupta’s offer, the post was again offered to him by Duarte.

The deputy minister has come under pressure from the opposition to confirm the Guptas’ advance, which was reported last week in the London-based Financial Times while Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was in the UK for discussions with investors as National Treasury seeks to avert a further downgrading of South Africa’s credit rating.

“I have hesitated to speak out publicly on this matter until now, but I feel it is no longer possible to remain quiet. Of primary concern to me is that this issue has a real danger of diverting attention away from the real and urgent challenges we face as a country,” he said.