The Guptas will not meet their Friday deadline to respond to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s bid for a declaratory order relating to a dispute between the country’s banks and Oakbay Investments. In April Nedbank, Standard Bank, FNB and Absa closed all of Oakbay’s accounts. To date, none of the banks have explained why, though unconfirmed reports point to serious financial wrongdoing. In the months that followed, Nazeem Howa, then the CEO of Okabay, lobbied Gordhan to intervene on behalf of the government to put an end to what he dubbed a “politically motivated campaign”. In a surprise move last month, Gordhan approached the High Court in Pretoria asking it to provide clarity on the “powers of intervention by government in relation to the closing of private clients’ accounts by registered banks”. The family had until Friday, November 10, to file opposing papers. However, their lawyer, Gert van der Merwe, now says that deadline will not be met. “We requested information from the ban...
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