Just a month after Des van Rooyen took office as minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, he met Gupta associates to give them department business.
Van Rooyen was appointed to the post on December 13 2015, after his four-day stint as finance minister, and a week later made a one-day trip to Dubai that was paid for by the Gupta family.
E-mails and documents show that about three weeks after the Dubai trip he asked Trillian Management Consulting to assist with the department's strategic plan in provinces and municipalities.
And his adviser Mohamed Bobat gave Trillian, then owned by Gupta associates Salim Essa and Eric Wood, guidance in how to structure their proposal for the department.
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The Sunday Times revealed last year how Bobat leaked confidential cabinet documents to Wood and Essa during Van Rooyen's brief term as finance minister. Bobat has denied this.
It is unclear how much money was involved in the proposal and if Trillian was paid anything. Van Rooyen's spokesman, Legadima Leso, did not respond to questions.
Van Rooyen met Trillian on January 12 2016, asking it to put together a plan to "support the department in achieving its strategic objectives specifically in the provinces and municipalities". The department had not issued a request for proposals as required by the Public Finance Management Act.
Numerous e-mails followed between Bobat and Trillian in which they also discussed contracting an international consulting company to partner with Trillian.
In February 2016, Trillian submitted its draft proposal to Bobat and he gave feedback by e-mail. "Please remove Trillian Capital logos from the document - insert a separate section for supplier development wherein you include Trillian as the empowerment partner on the transaction," he said.
"Be cautious over commitment on deliverables in diagnostic phase ... From scoping perspective we need to be very careful how much we commit to ... I would suggest a high-level qualitative assessment which identifies opportunities for further separate deep dives."
Arrangements were made for further meetings between Trillian and Van Rooyen's department in February 2016.
In one instance, a Trillian employee asked Bobat to arrange a meeting between the department and a foreign company sending a delegation to South Africa. Bobat replied: "Let me caucus with the Minister and will revert."
Bobat is believed to have accompanied Van Rooyen when he visited the Gupta compound in Saxonwold on seven successive days before his appointment as finance minister.
