Former South African President Jacob Zuma has ignited widespread anger in his country after being photographed alongside businessman Ajay Gupta at a temple in Haridwar, India. Gupta is allegedly at the center of a massive corruption scandal known as "state capture" in South Africa.
Cabinet Minister Condemns Zuma's Actions
Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni launched a scathing attack on Friday, accusing Zuma of undermining South Africa's laws and foreign policy. She stated that his actions were an insult to the public. "It is very disturbing that a former state president can openly and unapologetically show the middle finger to South Africans, and continues to show the middle finger and claims that he wants to run this country again," Ntshavheni said. She added, "It shows the type of person he is and that is for South Africans to judge."
The Gupta Scandal and Zuma's Resignation
The Gupta brothers, originally from Uttar Pradesh, India, built a business empire spanning IT, mining, and media after moving to South Africa in the early 1990s. Around a decade ago, they were accused of using their close ties with then-President Zuma to influence government decisions and profit from the relationship. This became known as the "state capture" scandal. The brothers and Zuma have denied any wrongdoing.
The Gupta family left South Africa in 2018 after a judicial commission began investigating the allegations. South African authorities cancelled the arrest warrant against Ajay Gupta in 2019, while the UAE rejected South Africa's request to extradite his brothers, Atul and Rajesh, in 2023. Ajay is reportedly in India.
Zuma was forced by his party, the African National Congress (ANC), to resign from the national presidency in February 2018 after his alleged links with the Gupta brothers were exposed. The party later expelled him in July 2024. By then, Zuma had launched a new political party, Umkhonto We Sizwe, in an attempt to contest elections and return to government.
Diplomatic Controversy and Defense
Ntshavheni also criticized South Africa's High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, who was spotted at the temple with Zuma and Gupta. She said Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola has demanded an internal report from Sooklal regarding his presence there. However, Deputy President Paul Mashatile defended Sooklal, saying the diplomat was merely doing his job in line with standard protocols of providing support to any visiting former head of state. "As a former president, (Zuma) has the responsibilities that he is engaging in different countries, and ambassadors will continue to receive him," Mashatile told The Star newspaper on Monday.
Diplomatic sources said Sooklal has claimed he was unaware of Gupta's appearance at what was ostensibly a private religious visit to India by the former president.
Civil Society Reacts
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, an NGO that played a major role in mobilizing civil society to remove Zuma from office in 2018, said in a statement that the public cannot view Zuma's trip to India as a routine private visit. "South Africans must confront the damning realities established by the judiciary," it said. Citing the findings of the judicial commission of inquiry into the corruption case involving the Guptas, the foundation alleged that Zuma had enabled the family's influence over state institutions and that Ajay Gupta was identified as a central figure in the "state capture" scandal. The foundation said the findings underscored the seriousness of Zuma's meeting with Gupta.
