South Africa has experienced widespread violence since former President Jacob Zuma was arrested on corruption allegations. The corruption allegations against Jacob Zuma have an Indian connection – the Gupta Brothers, who moved to South Africa from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur in the 1990s.
Jacob Zuma is serving a 15 month jail sentence for contempt of court. Jacob Zuma had refused to obey a February court order directing him to bring documents or evidence to an investigative committee headed by South Africa’s Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
More than 70 people have lost theirs lives in violence an extent that some say has not been seen since the end of apartheid in South Africa in the early 1990s.
READ: South Africa wavers under violence, riots: first hand report on the unrest on the ground
THE CASE
Jacob Zuma is confronted with two extensive corruption allegations. One relates to a $ 2 billion arms deal in 1999 when he was Vice President. He has denied the allegations.
The other allegations of corruption relate to his 2009-18 presidency. It is on these allegations that Jacob Zuma refused to cooperate with the investigative committee.
The panel is investigating allegations that he allowed three Indian-born businessmen, Atul Gupta, Ajay Gupta and Rajesh Gupta, to “plunder state resources” and peddle government policies.
The accusation is that Jacob Zuma, in collaboration with the Gupta brothers, brought about a “state conquest” – the siphoning off of state assets. The Gupta brothers were once so influential that they were claimed to have dictated the policies of the Jacob Zuma government.
The Gupta Brothers fled South Africa after Jacob Zuma was forced to resign in 2018. Both have denied any wrongdoing.
WHO ARE GUPTA BROTHERS?
The Gupta Brothers come from Saharanpur in the west of Uttar Pradesh, where they had a small family business. The eldest of the brothers, Atul Gupta, is said to have moved to South Africa in 1993 when the country opened up to the world after the end of apartheid. Others followed suit.
According to some reports, the Guptas initially sold shoes from their car in South Africa, but soon started a company called Sahara Computers. They found that, surprisingly, South Africa had no red tape, especially when compared to India.
Their business flourished and they developed political connections. They expanded their business network from computers to air travel, energy, mining, technology, and media.
ZUMA AND GUPTAS – ZUPTA
The Gupta Brothers got close to Jacob Zuma after meeting him and Atul Gupta at a Sahara computer event around 2015-16. They immediately felt so connected that their critics coined the term Zupta for them.
A major political controversy erupted in South Africa in 2016 over allegations that the Gupta Brothers had promised the then deputy finance minister a promotion to finance minister if he advanced their business interests. The Guptas also reportedly promised to pay R600 million.
Around the same time, former Treasury Secretary Pravin Gordhan alleged that he had blamed the Gupta brothers for the dismissal of the Jacob Zuma government.
THE AUTUMN OF ZUPTA
In 2017, around 1 lakh emails were leaked showing how deeply the Gupta brothers had influenced Jacob Zuma’s government.
The leaked emails sparked massive protests against Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family, who in 2013 offended South African sentiments by landing a plane with guests for their daughter’s wedding on a military airfield reserved only for the head of state.
There were also protests after the setbacks in the elections that the African National Congress (ANC) had in local polls in 2016. The ANC feared it would suffer in the next national polls.
In February 2018, the opposition put a motion of no confidence in Jacob Zuma. The ANC had suffered enough humiliation. Jacob Zuma had to resign as President of South Africa. The Gupta Brothers soon fled to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SOUTH AFRICA NOW?
Now the case and corruption allegations have come back to hunt down and pursue Jacob Zuma. He refused to cooperate and accepted a prison term instead of presenting documents to the investigative committee. He had only appeared once before.
His condemnation not only plunged South Africa into chaos, it also created blatant inequality between the black and white communities. The unrest has also been linked to pent-up anger over a lack of economic progress, widespread corruption and gross Covid-19 mismanagement.
The violence in South Africa has further disrupted the supply of oxygen and medication to hospitals where Covd 19 patients are admitted. It has also resulted in the closure of jobs including South Africa’s largest oil refinery – SAPREF in Durban – after rioters outnumbered security guards.
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