Serious accusation about Jacob Zuma’s visit to India and meeting Ajay Gupta

South African High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, allegedly received written instructions to receive former president Jacob Zuma and Ajay Gupta.

The debacle over Zuma’s visit to India and his meeting with the Gupta brother during this visit has caused an uproar in the government and among opposition parties.

At a post-Cabinet media briefing on July 3, 2026, the Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, strongly condemned what happened.

She slated Zuma and Sooklal, describing the former president’s meeting with Ajay Gupta as a blatant insult to the country.

“It is very disturbing that a former state president can openly and unapologetically show the middle finger to South Africans,” she said.

She noted that while the government provides certain travel and financial privileges to former heads of state, it does not oversee their private itineraries.

Ntshavheni warned that the government is entitled to review these privileges if they are used to undermine South Africa’s foreign policy and laws.

The government is currently reviewing these privileges, as it was not the first instance where Zuma undermined South Africa’s interests.

The Minister reprimanded Sooklal for his presence at the event, calling his conduct a disgrace for a representative of the state.

“An employee of the South African government should not be hobnobbing with criminals instead of working to ensure fugitives face justice,” she said.

She accused Sooklal of undermining South Africa’s criminal justice system and showing a middle finger to South Africans who are paying his salary.

The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Ronald Lamola, has demanded an internal report from Sooklal.

Ntshavheni promised South Africans that drastic and necessary steps would be taken against the diplomat.

The Democratic Alliance raises the alarm

The Democratic Alliance released a press statement, raising concerns about the forked tongue linked to the government’s statements.

“Ntshaveni reprimanded the High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, for receiving former president Jacob Zuma and Ajay Gupta upon a recent visit to India,” it said.

However, it said that the High Commissioner Sooklal received written instructions from DIRCO to do so.

This, the Democratic Alliance said, was confirmed to parliament’s portfolio committee on International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) on Friday.

“If High Commissioner Sooklal received instructions from DIRCO to formally receive Zuma and corruption-accused Ajay Gupta in India, heads must roll,” it said.

The DA called on Minister Lamola to urgently launch a departmental inquiry into this violation of diplomatic protocol.

“It demonstrated the political capture of South Africa’s foreign service or departmental officials who aid and abet state capture beyond South Africa’s borders,” it said.

“South Africa needs to know whether Minister Lamola and his department knew about this visit and gave instructions to prepare for it.”

It called for consequences for the insult to the South African people who suffered at the hands of state capture under Jacob Zuma’s nine wasted years.