Former Transnet and Eskom finance boss Anoj Singh on Friday told the state capture inquiry he visited the Gupta residence in Saxonwold no more than 10 times during his tenure at the helm of the purses of the two state-owned enterprises.

However, Singh said, his visits were for cultural and religious reasons since he happened to be Indian, like the Guptas.

Singh denied he was doing the bidding of the Indian family during his time as CFO of both Transnet and Eskom, where Gupta-linked companies benefitted from contracts.

His first interaction with the family, he said, was around 2011 or 2012 at the notorious The New Age breakfasts, of which Transnet was a sponsor.

He would visit their home on invitation for religious and cultural events, but he was never “intimately close” to the brothers, and he believes this can be backed by his non-attendance of the infamous Sun City wedding. 

According to him, he had also never invited the Gupta brothers to his home. 

Singh said he “probably” stopped his interactions with the Guptas in 2015.

Why, he was asked.

“At that point in time there were allegations relating to the family. Not that I believe any of the speculation, I just thought at the time to not continue.”

Despite Singh’s assertion that he was not close to the Guptas, his wife worked at their Sahara Computers in Midrand, where she was dropped off and picked up by Singh. 

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