South Africa asks United Arab Emirates to extradite an Indian family who used their contacts with President Zuma as a shadow government
Shiv Kumar Gupta had a dream, a happy vision like Martin Luther King. Atu’s father, Rajesh and Ajay, felt that the future was abuzz in democratic South Africa, that after the end of the white “apartheid” regime, the country would open up to the world and that its new ruling class would need projects and services. , providing multiple business opportunities. Driven by their father’s hunch, the brothers flew from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh to Johannesburg in 1993. Initially, they set up a modest shoe company and admittedly, the situation didn’t seem as rosy as they expected. But in less than 20 years, his emporium has encompassed mining, air travel, media, and technology, among other cutting-edge areas. Now there are no happy endings in this true story. For more than two months, Atu and Rajay have been held in a cell in Dubai. Those entrepreneurs from Asia would have literally appropriated the African state. The government has already requested his extradition to the United Arab Emirates.
Careerism is a common circumstance in business, but in the case of the Guptas, it took on a voracious rapacity. Fiction has not even dared to express such a runaway ambition. Neither Julian Sorel, the main character of Stendhal’s ‘Red and Black’, nor Georges Duroy, the hero of Guy de Maupassant’s ‘Bel Ami’, can be compared to these incredible individuals, because their Machiavellian strategy led them to nothing less than the administration of an entire emerging power.
A certain ability to identify allies seems to be the key to successful phagocytosis. In that regard, the leader of the African National Congress, the ruling party, was the essential part of the plan, according to investigations into the brothers’ behavior. Before he was elected presidential candidate, Jacob Zuma appeared as the country’s strongman, despite a past of corruption scandals putting his bribery on the line. The former anti-apartheid fighter, whom they met “by chance” in 2003, became the main target even before he became head of state.
the brothers emigrate to Johannesburg and set up a small shoe company. Twenty years later, his empire included mining, air transportation and technology.
According to the South African Council of Churches, $1 million has been illegally sent from South Africa to the capital of the United Arab Emirates by the Gupta Empire.
of gross domestic product, equivalent to $82,600 million, is what the Gupta clan is said to have appropriated from the South African state. An unlimited looting.
Two decades after their arrival in South Africa, the clan remained united, living together in a complex of four mansions with an adjacent heliport, located in Saxonwold, Johannesburg’s most affluent suburb. But the aesthetics, not the ethics, revealed its tremendous power. In 2013, the marriage of Vera Gupta, niece of the aforementioned, to a Delhi businessman exposed enormous influence and lack of scruples. The Airbus 330 chartered for the occasion transported 200 guests from India to a South African military base and a convoy of luxury vehicles, flanked by police officers, took them to the wedding venue.
All parties protested against this incredible abuse. The Guptas came to the forefront of the national news, a condition they have not left since. His enormous fortune also came to light. Atul’s alone was valued at $700 million and the family-owned Sahara Computers had 10,000 employees.
Suspicions about the accumulated power began to manifest themselves in the media, although it was Vitjie Mentor who definitively opened Pandora’s box. This deputy of the national parliament assured that the Guptas invited her to their residence in 2010, and in the presence of Zuma, they presented her to the Ministry of Public Enterprises. Later, Jonas Mcebisi, another parliamentarian, claimed that the same kingmakers had introduced him as finance minister. His generous spirit, it seems, contrasted with a no less daring revenge. The Guptas called for the resignation of Pravin Gordhan, head of finance, after he exposed his companies’ suspicious transactions worth $490 million.
The formal investigation into this phenomenon was launched following the 2016 complaint by Catholic priest Stanislau Muyebe to public protector Thuli Madonsela, emboldened by fears that “leadership hit the poor”. The ombudsman’s report revealed a relentless flow of contracts from the administration and state-owned enterprises to the brothers’ multiple companies.
The plot, in which all possible crimes seemed to coincide, involved swindling, bribery or influence, and involved the control of the high bureaucracy, subject to the dictates of the brothers. Officials received their instructions and in return were paid money and promoted, while refusal to cooperate was punishable by punishment and dismissal. The result was a control over the public apparatus that gave rise to the term “state capture.”
Public television, the national airline and Eskom, the local energy giant, were among the affected entities. Four years of research concluded with the belief that big business, the board and the governing party were subject to their convenience. The Guptas even applied for diplomatic passports, a privilege they were not given.
Against these accusations, a current of opinion manifested itself on the Internet, which objected to the existence of a plot by the white bourgeoisie against the minority of Asian descent. The attempt to exacerbate interracial tensions was identified. The British communications agency Bell Pottinger was behind this campaign. His client was Oakbay Investments, another company of the Ineffable Brothers.
The shadow of the infamous wedding was very long. Four years after the engagement, the state tax authorities seized 220 million rand, about 13 million euros, that the Orange State regional government had given the Guptas as beneficiaries of the Peace Dairy Project, a public initiative aimed at supporting black people. farmers with fewer resources. Apparently these funds served to pay for the link. Mosebenzi Zwane, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and the alleged mastermind behind the operation, was the family’s candidate for the strategic Ministry of Mineral Resources.
Protests against President Zuma and his disastrous management accelerated his fall in 2018. Cyril Ramaphosa, his successor, promoted the creation of the so-called State Capture Commission of Inquiry, led by Raymond Zondo, vice president of the Supreme Court. The mission of the otherwise known as the Zondo Commission was tough as they had to find out all the mechanisms used, the authors and destinations of those diverted funds.
The Indian family was grateful that an official judicial report was made, but strangely enough, they left the country as soon as their ally resigned. For the past four years, the brothers have refused to return, despite the fact that this entity has repeatedly asked them to return to account for their actions.
However, his departure was not as abrupt as might be expected. Before they left, the Guptas had already started selling assets in both the media and mining sectors. The South African banking network stopped operating its business network as suspicions and allegations mounted. Fortunately, at the time, the Bank of Baroda, the third largest financial institution in India, appeared to provide them with financial backing. The Hawks, the elite unit of the South African Police Force, occupied their offices when the investigation into the Gupta accounts took place and shortly afterwards the entity left the country “under an international restructuring plan”.
An Interpol notice has allowed the arrest of two brothers in Dubai, but the trial could be extraordinarily extended with the delay measures presented by their army of lawyers. And it is that there is no extradition treaty between the United Arab Emirates and South Africa, although South Africa’s Justice and Penitentiary Services, Ronald Lamola, and the country’s Attorney General, Shamila Batohi, hope to be a stumbling block. save that, yes it will take “several months”.
In addition, tracking down embezzled government funds can take years of investigating negligent banks in no less opaque tax havens. The Zondo Commission, which released its first report last January, continues its work to unravel the criminal network promoted by Zuma, businessmen and officials involved in the looting of democracy in the rainbow country.
The Gupta brothers started the counter-offensive only to avoid getting involved in this attack on corruption. They hope to return soon to the mansion overlooking the Arabian Gulf and ten suites, which is looked after by a staff of 35 employees. Perhaps they even plan to return to their African farm to continue fulfilling the wish of their father Shiv Kumar, that future of family prosperity and wealth, because in dreams, as is known, morality does not prevail.
All avenues of South African corruption lead to President Jacob Zuma. He is not the only one, but he is the worst of those who tried to carry on the work of Nelson Mandela, the father of the country. Cyril Ramaphosa, the current chief executive, was a union leader turned wealthy real estate owner today. The latest scandal in a country rich in it hits the current leader. The $4 million cash theft was committed in a farm on his property. The existence of this amount which he attributes to the sale of livestock is inexplicable.
The Guptas knew who they were dealing with. While it may seem surprising, Zuma came to power after 18 corruption offenses for his involvement, in the late 1990s, in a mega-contract by the South African regime to arm itself militarily. His entry into the presidency prevented prosecution for taking bribes from the winning companies.
The director in the hands of Zuma was like giving the fox the key to the chicken coop. From 2009 to 2018, there were allegations of bad practices, such as the Zumagate, derived from the accusation of using public funds to reform an extensive rural complex. But the problem was much bigger. The Capture of the State Commission says corruption has affected the basic structures of the administration.
The connection between Zuma and the Gupta Empire was so clear that the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters called the president, his wife Bongi and their sons Duduzile and Duduzane, wage earners of the Indian brothers, “zuptas.” The third came to lead Sahara Computers, the holding’s first major company, today depleted of activity and in debt of around EUR 30 million.
The political consequences of a possible trial against Rajesh, Atu and Ajay are unpredictable. The revelations could spark an unprecedented stir, perhaps an outburst against the sclerotic ruling party, or perhaps waves of violence like those that followed Zuma’s imprisonment a year ago. The masses, still loyal to the anti-apartheid ideology, maintain loyalties alien to the depravity of their leaders and which refer to the glorious times when today’s oligarchs fought against a white and exclusive regime.
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
