#StateCaptureInquiry: Mentor queries SAA, Home Affairs documents contradicting her evidence

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Published Feb 12, 2019

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Johannesburg - Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor has raised questions regarding evidence from South African Airways and the Department of Home Affairs which was presented at the Zondo commission. 

On Monday, Mentor faced tough questions from the commission's legal team who brought evidence which contradicted evidence she had provided to the inquiry in August last year. 

Advocate Mahlape Sello, for the commission, introduced evidence from the Department of Home Affairs and Emirates Airline. 

According to the evidence, Atul Gupta, who Mentor had said was one of the Guptas she met in China, did not fly to China to attend the government's formal event in August 2010. Atul Gupta did not leave the country at the time. 

The Department of Trade and Industries' (DTI) records also showed that Atul Gupta did not attend the China event, according to their records. 

Mentor was also presented with evidence from South African Airways (SAA) and Parliament's record that showed she did not travel to Joburg from Cape Town in 2010. 

She claimed she had travelled to Joburg to meet with former president Jacob Zuma.  Even with no evidence, Mentor has insisted that she did travel that day. 

On Tuesday, Mentor made an opening statement at the inquiry saying she would like the commission to call in an independent analyst who can examine the information provided by SAA and Home Affairs. She has refused to concede that she may have been wrong and instead said she suspicious of the evidence provided. 

The chairperson of the commission deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo told Mentor that a witness from SAA and possibly Home Affairs would be brought in to explain their processes and the documents provided. 

Tuesday's session was meant to see the start of Mentor being cross-examined by two applicants, however, that has not happened. 

Mentor was still continuing with "clarity" questions regarding the evidence she provided to the commission last year on her first appearance. 

The inquiry continues.

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