Infamous Gupta compound finally sold

Park Village Auctions has confirmed that all three of the Gupta-owned Saxonwold properties and their contents have been sold for a combined R34.5 million.

This is a substantial 47% (R30 million) reduction from the pre-sale valuation of R64.5 million for all three properties in Johannesburg’s prestigious Saxonwold neighborhood.

PVA’s Clive Lazarus said that the Business Rescue Practitioners (BRP) have accepted and confirmed the offer, inclusive of buyer’s commission and VAT, for numbers 3, 5, and 7 Saxonwold Drive.

These include a 17-bedroom mansion with luxury amenities, an eight-bedroom three-storey estate with an indoor pool, and a three-bedroom single-storey home.

“The BRPs are satisfied with this outcome, as is PVA. The sale signifies how we, with the BRPs, will be relentless in reclaiming funds owed to creditors,” said Lazarus.

More than just prime real estate in the country’s richest city, these properties stand as stark symbols of alleged state capture that defined former President Jacob Zuma’s tenure.

Ajay, Atul and Rajesh “Tony” Gupta, three brothers from the northern India, rose to prominence in the early 2000s, leveraging close ties to Zuma to amass a vast empire in mining, media, uranium, and technology.

By 2018, as investigations into the family’s activities intensified and the walls began closing in, the Guptas fled to Dubai.

Their business network, including Oakbay Resources and Energy, crumbled under debt, triggering business rescue proceedings.

This led to the auction of the Guptas’ Saxonwold mansions and household assets. The assets of Confident Concept (Pty) Ltd, now in rescue, are confirmed as having been sold.

Legal woes and the ‘Saxonwold Shabeen’

The auction follows years of legal battles and a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling in favour of Park Village Auctions.

Once dubbed the nerve centre of state capture, the Saxonwold mansions became infamous for hosting high-level political meetings and were repeatedly referenced during the Zondo Commission.

They symbolised the Gupta family’s reach into government, with several ministers from former president Zuma’s cabinet and CEOs of state-owned companies counted among the visitors.

Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas testified that he was offered a cabinet post at the Guptas’ Saxonwold home.

Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe, accused of being part of their network, initially denied visiting, but cellphone records and a public protector report proved otherwise.

He later admitted being in Saxonwold, suggesting he might have been at a local shebeen, giving rise to the nickname “Saxonwold Shebeen,” said to have more bars than most households have rooms.

Beyond their opulence, the sale is seen as part of a broader reckoning, aligned with efforts to recover corruption-linked assets, and comes amid renewed attempts to extradite the Guptas to face state capture charges.

Video and images of the infamous Gupta compound