article: South Africans are angry and embarrassed by accusations that the president's friends are effectively running the country from their posh suburban mansion by appointing ministers. The statement by deputy Minister of Finance Mcebisi Jonas that he was offered a cabinet ministerial job by a member of the controversial Gupta family is more bad news for President Zuma. While he is known to be one of the greatest political survivors, from a distance it looks like this latest scandal could finally cost him the presidency. Mr Zuma denies that he has outsourced his constitutional duties of appointing cabinet ministers to his friends. He told a raucous parliament: "I am in charge of the government, I appoint in terms of the constitution." "There is no minister who is here who was ever appointed by the Guptas or by anybody else." The governing African National Congress (ANC), which until very recently vehemently defended its president, is beginning to change its tune. The party's Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said: "The threat of corporate capture is a real threat. When you corrupt individual politicians to actually act as your proxies in the ANC to become agents of business interests then that's corporate capture." He described the Gupta family's rebuttal, saying the issue is not their undue influence but internal party political factions jostling for positions, as arrogance gone too far. Speaking to local TV channel ENCA he said: "It's arrogance to the superlative degree." The Gupta family, who arrived from India in 1993, have responded to the latest allegations with a double-page advert entitled "Gupta Family, The Inconvenient Truth" in The New Age newspaper, which the family owns. The family, through their holding company Oakbay Investments said it was releasing details of a meeting it held with ANC officials last month. Several accusations were addressed line by line but the advert did not mention the reports of ministerial job offers, which the family has previously denied. "Like any other South African businesses, we interact with the government," the family said. "In fact, friendship with the previous president was as strong." Several ANC officials have joined in the attack on the Guptas. ANC MP Vytjie Mentor claimed on Facebook that she too was offered a cabinet job by the Gupta family, but she said she too refused. Soon after Mr Jonas spoke about the controversial meeting at the Gupta home called by Duduzane Zuma, the president's son, senior MPs took to social media to support him. Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom stated on his Twitter account: "Mcebisi Jonas is a person of great integrity and there no reason to doubt his version of events." He was followed the former ANC's spokesman MP Jackson Mthembu who said: "I fully agree that comrade Jonas is a person of integrity whose commitment to our democracy is unquestionable." Who are the Guptas? The expression of disgust gained momentum when ANC heavyweight and former cabinet minister Barbara Hogan said that the party needed to clear the "rot." Ms Hogan, who was once the minister of public enterprise responsible for state companies such as South
summary: South Africa's President Jacob Zuma is walking further into a long, dark tunnel as he clings to his presidency.