South Africa's Zuma Defies State Capture Scandal with Gupta Meeting in India

Controversial Meeting Reignites State Capture Row

South African Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has condemned former President Jacob Zuma for meeting with Indian businessman Ajay Gupta in an Indian temple this week, saying he is "showing the middle finger" to South Africans affected by the corruption scandal. A photograph of the meeting circulated by Indian media has triggered fresh controversy around the decade-old "state capture" allegations that defined Zuma's presidency.

The Gupta brothers — Ajay, Atul and Rajesh — were accused of exploiting their close relationship with Zuma to influence South African policy and profit from state contracts. The family fled South Africa in 2018 when a judicial commission launched investigations into their alleged involvement in massive fraud. Though both sides denied wrongdoing, the subsequent state capture inquiry concluded that Zuma had hired and fired key government ministers at the family's behest, including Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene in 2015.

Investigation and Political Fallout

South Africa's Department of International Relations has announced it will investigate the meeting, with Minister Ronald Lamola suggesting Zuma is running "a parallel foreign policy." Ntshavheni further criticised South Africa's High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, for accompanying Zuma to the encounter. The 84-year-old former president, now leader of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, indicated after the meeting that he intends to contest South Africa's next election.

The MK party secured approximately 15% of votes in the 2024 elections, contributing to the ANC's historic loss of its parliamentary majority for the first time since democracy began in 1994 under Nelson Mandela.