Eyewitness News has confirmed that the Hawks will be investigating treason charges against Cabinet ministers Faith Muthambi and Mosebenzi Zwane. The Hawks are investigating 140 corruption cases related to state capture.
This comes after the Organisation of Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) laid a charge of treason in July. The affidavit filed against Muthambi and Zwane call for the prosecution of the ministers on charges of fraud and corruption.
In an affidavit, Outa chief operating officer Ben Theron reportedly laid out the basis for the charges, which centre on Zwane's alleged relationship with the Gupta family going back to his time as Free State MEC for agriculture in 2012, and the details of his dealings with them, as laid out in the leaked Gupta emails.
Zwane also allegedly supported the Guptas' company Tegeta in its bid to buy the Optimum mine from Glencore, and allegedly flew to Switzerland to assist them in talks with Glencore.
Times LIVE reported that the charges were brought in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, and that Zwane could face 25 years in prison if convicted. His role in the Gupta aircraft landing at Air Force Base Waterkloof is also reportedly among the charges against him.