Who Are The Gupta Brothers And How Attempting To Bribe The Wrong Man Led To Their Fall?

The South African government announced that the UAE government arrested Rajesh Gupta and Atul Gupta, on charges of corruption leveled against them which were committed when Jacob Zuma was the president.

The Guptas have been accused of ‘state capturing’ which means using corrupt means to influence a government’s decision making to further their own interests.

During the rule of Jacob Zuma, the Guptas influenced decision-making in the South African finance ministry, ministries of natural resources and public enterprise and in ministries responsible for tax collection and communications.

Also Read: Gupta Brothers, Accused Of Corruption During Jacob Zuma Presidency, Arrested

They also influenced decisions taken by state broadcaster SABC,  South African airways, state-owned rail freight operator Transnet and South African energy company Eksom.

Such was their proximity with Jacob Zuma that the South African opposition parties called them ‘Zupta’.

Also Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane Zuma, third wife Bongi Ngema and one of his daughters were employed by the Guptas with Duduzane being appointed as director of the Sahara Computers.

The Guptas benefitted from their nexus with Zuma as South African government departments and state-owned conglomerates during his presidency awarded the Guptas with large contracts.

South African government officials even said that they received direct orders from the Guptas to take decisions which would further their own interests.

When Did Trouble Start Brewing For The Guptas?

The Guptas came to South Africa in 1993 from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, seeing an enormous economic potential following the end of apartheid. However, soon after they set up shop, they used their non-whiteness to setup a system similar to the apartheid system – the only difference was that Black elites were part of this who felt it was their time to become rich.

There were several allegations of corruption against the Guptas but outrage from the public came when it was revealed that the Guptas tried to strong-arm ministerial appointments.

In 2016, deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas said he was presented with the opportunity to become South Africa’s finance minister.

While the Gupta brothers denied the claim, a similar allegation was leveled against them in 2010 when African National Congress (ANC) lawmaker Vytjie Mentor alleged that she was offered the post of public enterprise minister when she was in a meeting at the Gupta’s Sahara Estate in Johannesburg’s affluent Saxonwold suburb.

However, they also were caught in a controversy when an Airbus A330, carrying guests who were attending the marriage of Vega Gupta -daughter of one of the brothers, landed at the military airbase near Pretoria in 2013.

The Waterkloof Air Base is reserved for visiting heads of state and dignitaries but the use of the airbase to transport guests of the Guptas showed that they had enormous clout over South Africa’s political establishment.

The Guptas apologized but the public was surprised at the misuse of power.

How Much Did The Guptas Steal From South Africa And How?

Reports by South African and international media outlets suggest that the Guptas stole more than $7 billion dollars from South Africa through their businesses.

They bought mines, invested in developing the IT infrastructure of several major South African companies and ministries and technology and engineering. However, later when allegations of wrongdoing surfaced it was found that Guptas cut corners when it came to paying health benefits and pensions (even though they were once spotted handing out fistfuls of cash to miners Optimum Coal Mine in Gauteng).

They were also enabled by Zuma who fired the chiefs of all three intelligence agencies and replaced them with loyalists in 2010 when the first allegations of corruption emerged.

The lavish marriage ceremony in 2013 held at Sun City resort in South Africa was paid for by looting a government-funded dairy farm meant to empower poor black farmers. The money was routed through the UAE.

The Guptas also gave faulty computers to Eksom, hired models instead of TV journalists at ANN7 News (launched by the brothers to earn government revenue) and were also known for using a London-based PR firm Bell Pottinger to launch an array of hashtags and fake news websites which would cast the Guptas as victims of white monopoly and economic apartheid.

In 2010, the Industrial Development Corporation lent the Guptas $34 million for so-called investment in a South African uranium mine. They were also handed a deal worth $4.4 billion in Transnet, South Africa’s rail and port company where Guptas used the contract to secure millions in kickbacks or ‘commissions’. Moreover, Duduzane, Zuma’s son, for electoral gains presented their companies as black-owned.

The Guptas are likely to employ legal firms to avoid extradition to the UAE but they leave behind a poor, struggling South Africa where miners who worked in their mines starve, unable to provide a square meal to their families and for themselves.

(with inputs from Vanity Fair, the BBC and The Daily Maverick)

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