Did The Guptas Pay For Lynne Brown's PA To Go To Dubai?

Kim Davids says she paid for the trip herself, but details of her trip appear in the Gupta emails.
South African State Enterprises minister Lynne Brown arrives to attend the South African ruling Party African National Congress 's ordinary National Executive Committee meeting on May 27, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. / AFP PHOTO / Phill Magakoe (Photo credit should read PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP/Getty Images)
South African State Enterprises minister Lynne Brown arrives to attend the South African ruling Party African National Congress 's ordinary National Executive Committee meeting on May 27, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. / AFP PHOTO / Phill Magakoe (Photo credit should read PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP/Getty Images)
PHILL MAGAKOE via Getty Images

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown's personal assistant is the latest public figure to be on the receiving end of the Gupta family's generosity, according to new information from the leaked Gupta emails.

The Times reported on Wednesday that the assistant, Kim Davids, visited Dubai in late 2015, and that her R32,000 bill was sent to the Guptas for settling. She reportedly stayed at the five-star Oberoi hotel, where South African Cabinet ministers also stay during their trips to the emirate.

But Davids reportedly denied the trip was paid for by the Guptas, and could not explain to The Times why her bill landed up in emails sent to and from the Guptas and their staff.

Davids told The Times: "In December 2015 I took leave and booked a holiday with my fiancé in Portugal. On the way, in transit in Dubai, I fell ill, when I learned I was pregnant. We returned home, paying our own costs. I reject with contempt those unfounded allegations that cast doubt on my integrity."

Mineral Resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane and former finance minister Des van Rooyen were reportedly staying in Dubai at the Guptas' expense at the same time.

Public enterprises spokesperson Colin Cruywagen told The Times that Davids had been on leave at the time of her visit, December 2015, and that Brown had been in the country at the time.

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