State Capture whistleblower and former ANC member Vytjie Mentor has passed away in the early hours of this morning after a long illness.
ActionSA confirmed the passing of Mentor in a issued statement: “Vytjie had been ill for some time and this morning her family called to inform us that she had succumbed to her illness after being hospitalised for several months.”
“We will keep the family and friends of Vytjie in our thoughts and prayers and ask that her loved ones be given the privacy to grieve during this time. May her soul rest in peace,” read a statement.
Mentor served as a member of the parliament from 2002 until 2014.
She represented the ANC and served as the party’s caucus chairperson between 2004 and 2008, and during her tenure, she served as the chairperson of the portfolio committee on public enterprises from 2009 to 2010.
In 2010, she accompanied former president Jacob Zuma on a state visit to China, her trip to China headlined the news, and the ANC launched a probe and found that Transnet had paid for her trip.
She was later demoted as chairperson of the committee after it was found that she had improperly asked for sponsorship.
In March 2016, Mentor claimed that in 2010 the Gupta family, on behalf of Zuma, offered her the position of minister of public enterprises, if she could arrange that South African Airways drop their Johannesburg to Mumbai route, so that Jet Airways could acquire it.
She said she declined the offer, which occurred at the Guptas’ Saxonwold residence, while Zuma was in another room.
The family denied that the meeting took place and Zuma said he had no recollection of Mentor.
In August 2018, she testified at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.
She was cross-examined in February 2019 after some parts of her testimony were found to be inconsistent.
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