Jean-Jacques Cornish

Guptas and Duduzane Zua quit Oakbay

The son of President Jacob Zuma has quit his multi million euro job with the holding company of a wealthy Indian family accused of interfering in the governance of South Africa.

Duduzane Zuma says he’s resigning to protect Oakbay Investments’ more than 1 000 employees and to depoliticise his participation in business.

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The political heat generated by  Oakbay Investments has caused its auditors and bankers to abandon the holding company owned by the Gupta family.

The firm says in a letter to employees that it’s impossible to do business under the circumstances and it may find itself unable to pay them.

The Guptas  say they’ve decided the family should end their association with Oakbay.

They’ve approached President Jacob Zuma and members of his Cabinet protesting about what they call the staggering action by the banks and auditors and the sustained political attack against them.

The president’s association with the Guptas, who are accused of interfering in senior Cabinet appointments, is only one of the major problems Zuma is facing.

The ANC leadership is undertaking an examination of what is being called state capture.

There’s mounting opposition to Zuma within ANC ranks.

A growing number of senior ANC members are saying Zuma’s apology after the highest court in the land last week accusing him of flouting the constitution  and his undertaking to repay public funds for non security upgrades to his private home is not enough.

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Jean-Jacques Cornish is a journalist and broadcaster who has been involved in the media all his adult life.

Starting as a reporter on his hometown newspaper, he moved briefly to then Rhodesia before returning to South Africa to become a parliamentary correspondent with the South African Press Association. He was sent to London as Sapa’s London editor and also served as special correspondent to the United Nations. He joined the then Argus group in London as political correspondent.

Returning to South Africa after 12 years abroad, he was assistant editor on the Pretoria News for a decade before becoming editor of the Star and SA Times for five years.

Since 1999 he’s been an independent journalist writing and broadcasting – mainly about Africa – for Talk Radio 702 and 567 Cape
Talk, Radio France International, PressTV, Radio Live New Zealand, Business Day, Mail & Guardian, the BBC, Agence France Press,
Business in Africa, Leadership, India Today, the South African Institute for International Affairs and the Institute for Security Studies.

He has hosted current affairs talk shows on Talk Radio 702 and 567 Cape Talk. He appears as an African affairs pundit on SABC Africa and CNBC Africa.
He lectured in contemporary studies to journalism students at the Tshwane University of Technology and the University of Pretoria.

He speaks on African affairs to corporate and other audiences.
He has been officially invited as a journalist to more than 30 countries. He was the winner of the 2007 SADC award for radio journalism.

He’s been a member of the EISA team observing elections in Somaliland, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Tunsiai.

In October 2009 he headed a group of 39 African journalists to the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Peoples’ Republic of China.

In January 2010 he joined a rescue and paramedical team to earthquake struck Haiti.

He is immediate past president of the Alliance Francaise of Pretoria.

Jean-Jacques is a director of Giant Media. The company was given access to Nelson Mandela in his retirement years until 2009.
He is co-producer of the hour-long documentary Mandela at 90 that was broadcast on BBC in January 2009.