The Guptas stole South Africa in a very smart but perverse way

Political analyst Prince Mashele said the Gupta family facilitated state capture and stole billions from South Africa through very smart but perverse actions.

Speaking to the Truth Report podcast, Mashele said the Gupta brothers arrived in South Africa around the dawn of democracy, anticipating the political transition.

They realised that new political leaders would emerge with the specific intention to gain as much power as possible.

Mashele said the Gupta brothers worked hard to gain access to the political elite who could benefit them financially.

He said the brothers repeatedly knocked on the door during the presidencies of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.

However, while they managed to get close to the presidency through ANC associates, Mbeki was too smart to let them close to his inner circle.

Everything changed when Jacob Zuma defeated Thabo Mbeki in the ANC Presidency race in 2007, making him the new leader.

The Gupta family finally found a vulnerable target in Zuma. They gained access to the highest office by promising to enrich his children and providing financial support.

Mashele argued that the Gupta’s high-profile Sahara Computers was not a legitimate retail business, and was used as a tender trap.

Mashele said they even tried to capture him personally by giving him a Sahara computer. He said it was a very ugly thing he never used.

He alleges that Sahara Computers was a vehicle to access government department tenders. “Nobody went to a shop and bought Sahar computers,” he said.

“Only government departments bought Sahara computers. They went to the government departments to sell their computers.”

When Zuma came into power, the Gupta family realised that winning tenders for computer equipment was small fry. They were ready for bigger things.

“They went to Eskom, Transnet, and other state-owned enterprises. That is where they received big tenders and began to loot on a massive scale,” he said.

The looting continued unabated during most of the Zuma presidency, and the Gupta brothers were even able to influence cabinet appointments.

The Gupta brothers after the Zuma era

As state capture allegations gained momentum in South Africa 2016, Ajay and Atul Gupta reportedly left for Dubai on a private jet.

When the Gupta brothers fled, their sprawling, multi-billion-rand empire, Oakbay Investments, collapsed almost immediately.

This was partly because they lost access to the formal banking system and the political patronage that sustained it.

The true death knell for the businesses wasn’t the police raids, but the withdrawal of banking services.

In 2016 and 2017, Absa, FNB, Nedbank, and Standard Bank closed Oakbay’s accounts to avoid reputational risk.

Without bank accounts, the companies could not pay salaries or suppliers, forcing them into a desperate sell-off or business rescue.

ANN7 was rebranded as Afro Worldview, but it was taken off the air in 2018 after MultiChoice refused to renew its DStv contract.

The New Age newspaper was renamed The Afro Voice, but ceased publication shortly after the rebranding due to a lack of advertising revenue and government funding.

Tegeta and its subsidiaries, Optimum, Koornfontein, and Shiva Uranium, filed for business rescue in February 2018.

Sahara Computers shut down operations. The headquarters in Midrand was abandoned, and the brand vanished from the South African market.

After leaving South Africa, the brothers spent several years as international fugitives, with widespread reports that they were based in Dubai.

In June 2022, Rajesh and Atul Gupta were arrested in Dubai following an Interpol Red Notice.

However, in a major blow to South African authorities, the UAE courts refused to extradite them in 2023 on a technicality.