Zuma's Friends the Guptas and His Son Relinquish Business Roles
- Company says resignations due to `sustained political attack'
- Pressure is mounting on Jacob Zuma to resign as President
Members of a family with ties to South African President Jacob Zuma resigned from management positions in the companies they control following a wave of controversy surrounding the Guptas’ alleged influence over the country’s leader.
The resignations of Atul Gupta and Varun Gupta from Oakbay Resources and Energy (Pty) Ltd. came after financial-services groups including accounting firm KPMG LLP dropped the company and other Gupta-controlled businesses as clients as questions about the family’s influence over Zuma mounted. Sasfin Holdings Ltd. has ceased being Oakbay’s broker, while Barclays Africa Group Ltd.’s Absa unit and FirstRand Ltd.’s First National Bank stopped providing banking services to all businesses of Oakbay Investments, the holding group. Zuma’s son, Duduzane, stepped down as a director of the company’s Shiva Uranium unit, Oakbay said.