The South African president Jacob Zuma was forced to resign following corruption charges and falling popularity. The Gupta Brothers are alleged to be behind the troubles for Zuma. The Guptas were accused of misusing its proximity to Zuma family for furthering its business empire.
Gupta Brothers
The family is headed by three brothers - Ajay, Atul and Rajesh ("Tony") Gupta, all hailing from Uttar Pradesh, India. Led by Atul, they arrived in South Africa in 1993, a year before Nelson Mandela became the president of the country after the first democratic elections. As the country opened up to foreign investment, the Guptas - previously small-scale businessmen in India - built a sprawling empire involved in computers, mining, media, technology and engineering. They had developed close links with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party focusing particularly on Zuma, well before he became president in 2009.
Link with Zuma family
Zuma's son Duduzane was a director of the Gupta-owned Sahara Computers and has been involved with several of the family's other companies. Zuma's third wife Bongi Ngema and one of his daughters have also been in the employment with the Guptas. Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas claimed in March 2015 that the Guptas had offered him the post of finance minister, in return for favouring the family - for which he would allegedly be paid 600 million rand ($50 million).
Public anger erupted after it was revealed that a jet carrying 217 foreign guests to a Gupta wedding landed at Waterkloof Air Force base, outside Pretoria. The airport is a military facility normally used for receiving heads of state. It appeared that Zuma, who was the guest of honour, had tacitly approved the decision, which breached air force and customs and immigration rules. There were also allegations that the law was broken when the guests were given a police "blue light" escort.
Their business dealings
The Guptas were accused of securing deals with South Africa's state-owned companies on favourable terms. South Africa's ethics watchdog, the Public Protector, published a report, finding that the state-owned electricity monopoly had awarded a massive coal order to a then-Gupta linked business at well above market prices. The report also alleged that former mining minister Mosebenzi Zwane "travelled to Switzerland with the Guptas to help them seal the deal" to buy a struggling coal mine. The family is mentioned 232 times in the report, entitled "State of Capture" because of the influence that the Guptas are alleged to have exerted on some branches of the state.
In recent years, major banks have withdrawn their facilities to the Gupta family, complicating the payment of salaries to staff and the day-to-day running of a complex, cash-intensive business empire. The Bank of Baroda, thought to be the last major bank to continue its relationship with the Guptas in South Africa, recently announced it would withdraw from the country, effectively ending its association with the controversial family.
Meanwhile, South African police raided the family home of Guptas in connection with corruption. However, the Guptas lawyer Ahmed Ghani said his clients had not been arrested.
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