Former president Jacob Zuma's son, Duduzane, appears to have broken his silence, taking to Twitter to question why he has been dragged into the fray surrounding the criminal investigation of the Guptas, and defending his father.
In a series of tweets over the last week, Duduzane has claimed that his father is being unfairly treated, that he "mistakenly" used state money to pay for the Nkandla upgrades, and retweeted several tweets questioning why Zuma was arrested while apartheid criminals roamed free.
In his latest tweet, on Monday, Duduzane said he could not understand why he was criticised for doing business with the Guptas.
Duduzane Zuma is a business partner of the Gupta brothers, who are wanted in connection with the Estina dairy farm project investigation. Two of the brothers are alleged to have conspired to siphon off money from the project, initiated to help black farmers in the Free State, to pay for the Gupta family wedding in 2013. A third brother is wanted in connection with allegations that the Guptas tried to bribe former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas.
Duduzane was asked to appear before the state-capture inquiry in Parliament but refused. He and the Gupta brothers will be subpoenaed now, after refusing requests from the public enterprises committee to appear.
According to Fin24, the Guptas said they could not appear because they were out of the country, calling the inquiry "political showboating", while Duduzane's lawyer said he would not appear before he had received transcripts of some of the witnesses' testimony.
On Twitter, he said he would not appear as he had not been subpoenaed.
City Press reported in February that the Hawks are looking for Duduzane. His home, a large property in Saxonwold nearby the Gupta compound, was reportedly unoccupied on the day the Hawks raided the Guptas'. The property is owned by a company co-owned by Duduzane and the Guptas.
However, officially, the Hawks have remained tight-lipped over whether they think Duduzane was involved in the Estina dairy project scam.
Hawks sources reportedly told The Sunday Independent that Duduzane is considered a fugitive as he did not hand himself over to the police. They reportedly said he was a flight risk as he has property in Dubai.
EFF leader Julius Malema came under fire for suggesting the Duduzane and his twin sister were not South African citizens because they were born in Mozambique.
Duduzane also defended his father, following news that the NPA will pursue the charges of fraud and corruption against the former president. He said VBS bank, placed under curatorship by the Reserve Bank following liquidity problems, was being targeted for giving Jacob Zuma a loan to pay back the Nkandla money.
Duduzane also retweeted tweets criticising President Cyril Ramaphosa and questioned why Zuma was arrested but apartheid perpetrators were not.
He also congratulated Vladimir Putin for his recent re-election as president of Russia.