Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene has testified that he was sacked in 2015 by Jacob Zuma for refusing to toe the line on advancing policies to benefit the Gupta family and other close associates of the former South African President.
Nene categorically denies allegations by the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters that he used his relationship with the Guptas to enrich his son and wife.
Nhlanhla Nene is the first South African Cabinet member to appear before the commission of inquiry into state capture headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
He says as deputy finance minister he was invited four times to the home of the wealthy Indian family accused of have an improperly close relationship with former president Jacob Zuma.
Nene corroborated the evidence delivered last month by his deputy Mcebisi Jonas that he has been offered a bribe and the job of finance minister by the Guptas if he did their bidding.
Nene says things turned sour with Zuma when he refused to approve the purchase of a nuclear power plant from Russia that he believed South Africa did not require and could not afford.
The Gupta brothers owned a uranium mine and wanted to supply the nuclear plant with the strategic mineral.