DA objects to department’s ‘possibly illegal’ funding of the BBC
The party says the Department of Trade and Industry’s funding of ‘the Treasury opponent and Gupta proxy’ Black Business Council is ‘suspicious at best’
The DA has raised strong objections to the funding by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of the Black Business Council (BBC), which it describes as being opposed to the Treasury and closely connected with the Guptas. The BBC strongly denied in Parliament this week that it was in alliance with or under the control of the Guptas but DA spokesperson on trade and industry Geordin Hill-Lewis said in a statement on Thursday that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan had in the past accused the organisation of trying to capture the Treasury and of only representing the interests of the Gupta family. The BBC vehemently opposed the amendments to the Financial Intelligence Act — now adopted by Parliament — which provides for greater scrutiny by banks over the financial transactions of prominent, influential individuals and their families. Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies disclosed in a written reply to a DA parliamentary question this week that his department had funded the BBC to the...
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