"Indian-origin tycoon Gupta, eyeing Juma's recruitment from the start"
[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] A report from the Anti-Corruption Commission released on the 29th (local time) revealed that former South African President Jacob Zuma (in office 2009?2018) sold the country wholesale to the Indian-origin Gupta family conglomerate.
According to the daily The Citizen and foreign media, the Anti-Corruption Commission, chaired by current Constitutional Court Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, published Volume 4 of the report on the same day and submitted it to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This extensive report, spanning over 1,000 pages, stated that former President Zuma was strategically co-opted by his friends, the Gupta brothers, from the early days of his administration and played a key role in handing over the country’s treasury to them. One of Zuma’s sons also established business ties with the Gupta family.
The report said, "It is clear that President Zuma was willing to do whatever the Gupta family asked of him from a very early stage of his first term."
The purpose of this report is to specifically confirm previously generally known facts and to urge prosecutors to indict those involved.
Due to the Gupta family’s state capture through former President Zuma, the state-owned power company Eskom’s board and executives were filled with pro-Gupta figures, resulting in contracts worth 14.7 billion rand (approximately 1.18 trillion won) being signed with companies affiliated with the Gupta conglomerate.
The report recommended that prosecutors criminally charge the Eskom board around 2014, including then CEO Brian Molefe. Eskom also announced it would launch an internal investigation committee related to the report and begin recovering funds from fraudulent contracts.
Eskom, which supplies 90% of South Africa’s electricity, is burdened with debt amounting to 400 billion rand (approximately 32 trillion won). To prevent blackouts caused by poor management and maintenance failures in the overall power system, Eskom has implemented load shedding, which has drawn criticism for hampering South Africa’s economic growth and investment.
The report stated that major state-owned enterprises such as Eskom, defense company Denel, and port and railway operator Transnet became easy prey for the Gupta family.
Regarding this, Chairman Zondo criticized, "When corruption is so rampant, where was the ruling African National Congress (ANC)?" President Ramaphosa was also serving as deputy president at the time.
Established in 2018, the Anti-Corruption Commission has investigated nearly 300 witnesses over three years and has been sequentially publishing the resulting reports since January. The final Volume 5 is expected to be released in mid-June.
Now 80 years old, former President Zuma stepped down in 2018 due to the ANC’s fear of election defeat amid repeated corruption scandals. The Gupta brothers fled to Dubai.
President Ramaphosa, who came to power on an anti-corruption platform, estimated that the total amount stolen from the national treasury during Zuma’s administration reached 500 billion rand (approximately 40 trillion won).
Former President Zuma, who denies the charges, refused to appear before the Anti-Corruption Commission, was sentenced to 15 months for contempt of court by the Constitutional Court, and was imprisoned in July last year but released on medical parole in September. During his imprisonment, large-scale looting, arson, and riots occurred in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere, resulting in over 350 deaths.
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