President Jacob Zuma has joined an application by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan over the Gupta banking matter to be heard on Tuesday as an “interested party“.

 He argues in court papers that he would be directly affected in any declaratory order that the courts hand down because Standard Bank‚ who is among the respondents‚ had asked that no member of the executive including the president should be allowed to intervene in the matter between the Gupta and the banks.

“Neither the president or any of the other members of the Cabinet are before this court as parties to this application launched by the minister of finance‚” Zuma said in his affidavit.

He was therefore “obliged” to take steps to join the proceedings‚ he said. He added that Standard Bank did not elect to join him or any other minister to the proceedings‚ rather it informed him of its intent and “effectively” “invited him to intervene” in the proceedings.

Zuma argues that Standard Bank cannot ask for the relief of a declaratory order barring him or any Cabinet minister from intervening in the closure of the accounts because it has not joined him as a party to the proceedings.

Standard Bank’s application should be struck from the roll‚ said Zuma and it should be ordered to pay the president’s costs.