Transnet CE Gama denies Guptas paid his hotel fee
Siyabonga Gama confirms meeting Gupta lieutenant Salim Essa during Dubai stay, but denies the Guptas paid for him
Two months before being appointed Transnet CE permanently‚ Siyabonga Gama allegedly enjoyed a two-night stay at the five-star The Oberoi in Dubai courtesy of the Gupta family. Gama confirmed meeting Gupta lieutenant Salim Essa during the stay, but denied the Guptas paid for him. Leaked Gupta e-mails have revealed a booking confirmation, e-mailed to Gupta-owned Sahara Systems CE Ashu Chawla, under Gama’s name. Chawla then forwarded the e-mail to longtime Gupta family associate Essa‚ who until recently was the 60% owner of Trillian Capital Partners‚ a financial consulting firm that netted millions in contracts with state-owned entities Transnet and Eskom. Gama insisted he had paid his own way. He also provided an invoice — which he said was from The Oberoi — stamped "Paid". The invoice does not show the hotel’s name or say who settled the bill and was printed in June 2017‚ a year-and-a-half after he stayed at The Oberoi — and at about the same time he was approached for comment. Leake...
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