South Africa confirms arrest of the Gupta brothers in Dubai on corruption charges

*Paromita Das
On 6th June, the South African government announced that Rajesh and Atul Gupta of the Gupta family had been apprehended in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In South Africa, the Gupta brothers, friends of former President Jacob Zuma, are accused of profiting financially and influencing top appointments through their ties with Zuma. They deny any wrongdoing on their part.

The family moved from India to South Africa in 1993. They are also accused of money laundering in India, where tax inspectors raided their homes in multiple locations in 2018, including the headquarters of their company in Delhi.

The Indian-born brothers’ relationship with Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s president from 2009 until he was forced to resign amid a storm of corruption charges nine years later, is at the heart of many of the most serious corruption allegations leveled against them.

The Gupta family is accused of abusing its close relationship with President Jacob Zuma to wield significant political power at all levels of South African government, including securing business contracts, influencing high-profile government appointments, and misappropriating state funds.

Several witnesses testified during Zuma’s nine-year presidency about the Guptas’ involvement in stealing large sums of money and influencing Cabinet minister nominations.
Zuma and the Guptas insist they are not guilty of any wrongdoing.

After the brothers left the country, South Africa reached an extradition agreement with the UAE in 2021.

It is unclear why Ajay, the third brother, was not arrested. South African courts have already frozen their assets.

How the Indian Gupta brothers landed South Africa’s ruling party in its worst crisis

Former South African President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma has faced numerous legal issues before, during, and after his presidency, including rape charges, embezzlements, corruption, and fraud, to name a few.

He is currently serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court.

The Gupta family connection is the most visible of all the corruption charges leveled against him.

What are the Gupta brothers?

This family moved to South Africa in 1993 from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur. The three brothers, Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh Gupta, as well as Atul’s nephews Varun and Ashish and Amol, who live in the United States, are prominent members of this family.

Atul founded Sahara Computers, the family’s first business in South Africa, in 1993.

In South Africa, the Gupta family owns coal mines, computers, newspapers, and a media outlet.

With an estimated net worth of R10.7 billion (US$773.47 million) based on JSE-listed holdings, Atul Gupta became the seventh-wealthiest person in South Africa in 2016.
One of President Zuma’s wives, Bongi Ngema-Zuma, worked for the Gupta-controlled JIC Mining Services.

Duduzile Zuma, his daughter, worked as a director at Sahara Computers, the Guptas’ first venture in South Africa.

His son, Duduzane Zuma, was a director of a few Gupta-owned companies before resigning in 2016 amid public outrage.
‘The Zuppas’

The Zumas and the Guptas became so inextricably linked that a new term was coined for them: the “Zuptas.”

Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor claimed that in 2010, the Guptas offered her the position of Minister of Public Enterprises if she could arrange for South African Airways to drop their India route and allow Gupta-linked airlines to take it instead.

They were summoned in 2017 in connection with the Vrede farm project, in which a trail of hacked emails linked the Guptas to government funds channelled into Atul Gupta’s account.
Interpol issued a red notice: South African prosecutors have summoned the Gupta Brothers, who were allegedly at the center of a web of corruption during Zuma’s administration. According to the main investigator, Hermione Cronje, Interpol has issued a red alert against two of the brothers, Rajesh and Atul, as well as their wives.

Interpol had issued Red Notices to the Gupta brothers, who were also declared persona non gratia by the United States and the United Kingdom.

Red Notices are issued for fugitives wanted for prosecution to alert law enforcement agencies around the world to apprehend them pending extradition.
As the net tightened around them in 2018, the family fled South Africa, with the ANC eventually replacing Zuma and electing Cyril Ramaphosa as Acting President as a result of massive public protests.

What exactly is a red notice?

A red notice, according to Interpol, is a request to law enforcement around the world to locate and temporarily detain a person pending extradition, surrender, or other legal action.

Current Situation:

The South African government announced on June 7 that Rajesh Gupta and Atul Gupta of the Gupta family had been arrested in the UAE by law enforcement authorities. It is unclear why Ajay, the third brother, was not arrested. South African courts have already frozen their assets.