Rehabilitation funds worth R1.6bn for the mines owned by Gupta-owned Tegeta are intact, the Department of Mineral Resources says. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) wrote to Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane on Friday asking him to ensure that the funds are ring-fenced and secured, following the announcement that the family was selling its mining company. Outa believed the imminent closure of the Guptas’ Bank of Baroda account may have put the funds — a R280m fund for Koornfontein and Optimum Colliery’s R1.6bn fund — at risk. Zwane has until Friday to respond to Outa. If he fails to do so, the civil rights group will take the matter to court. "The bank and the company concerned have a responsibility to notify the department when there are any changes in a rehabilitation fund account registered in the records of the department," the department said. "Such notification has not yet been received by the department. The rehabilitation funds are still intact and subject to...

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