How far can the power of money go? This is not the subject of bac philo but the question that South Africans are asking in the face of uncovering the biggest corruption scandal in the country’s unrelenting history. The conclusion of Judge Raymond Zondo’s commission of inquiry, announced on Wednesday, is indeed just the latest episode in a long legal saga that began in 2018, with the sacking of President Jacob Zuma and the flight from the country of the three Gupta brothers. , Atul, Rajesh and Ajay.

The brothers are accused of using their influence over the former president to seize state resources such as mafia gangs, not hesitating to use intimidation and bribes to siphon off a now-defunct business. Their profits, thanks to this embezzlement, were estimated at more than three billion euros, but the damage to the South African economy was far greater. In early June, two Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh, were arrested in Dubai, subject to extradition procedures to South Africa. As for President Zuma, his arrest for refusing to cooperate with investigators sparked riots a year ago that killed 350 people. Sentenced to fifteen months in prison, he continued to benefit from parole just two months after his detention.

But soap operas are far from over and massive demolition could continue. Without exception, the current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, who is the vice president, is not immediately involved, but is very silent at material times. Embarrassed by the recent discovery of several million euros in cash on one of his farms, he gave himself four months to trigger possible legal proceedings following the conclusion of the anti-corruption commission of inquiry.

Privatized military base

The question of power and money here is really on par with the chicken and egg problem. The relationship between the Zuma and the Gupta brothers was intense. As such, two of the former president’s children have been employed by Gupta, including his son Duduzane, who was appointed head of the Mabengela Investment conglomerate. In return, the three brothers have the power to remove the president of the national electricity company or the minister of finance. For the sole purpose of promoting dubious contracts. “The president is ready to do whatever the Gupta wants,” accused Zondo’s inquiry commission report.

Nine years earlier, a scene played a revealing role: on April 30, 2013, for the wedding of Vega, one of the daughters of the Gupta sisters, the latter of which privatized the Waterkloof military base where they landed, without a request for visas or permission from the army, 200 guests were immediately brought to the complex. Sun City in the northwest of the country for a lavish party. This was the beginning of “Guptagate”, soon followed by “Guptaleaks”, with leaks of incriminating emails and documents.

As the head of a kingdom that, at its peak, earned 289 million euros a year, the Gupta were not from the large Indian community, which had lived in South Africa since British rule and which prided itself on being Mahatma Gandhi among its members. . Originally from Uttar Pradesh, in northern India, the siblings arrived in South Africa in 1993, a year before the first multiracial elections.

Watery monopoly

Starting from a small computer company, Sahara Computers, they will gradually invest in all the profitable areas of Monopoly: mining companies, airlines, tourism, real estate, and even in the media. In 2009, the election of Zuma, whom they had met eight years earlier, would act as the jackpot for a giant national heist. But the fall of the President forced them to flee overnight from their luxurious residence in Saxonwold, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, the economic capital.

Their unexpected arrest in Dubai, fifteen days before the publication of the conclusion of the Zondo report, was mainly due to the good planetary alignment. The United Arab Emirates knows it is under pressure from several financial institutions to house billionaire thugs suspected of money laundering. And November’s controversial election at the head of Interpol, the international police agency, Ahmed Nasser al-Raissi, an Emirati accused of torture, may have strengthened the will to make good faith promises. It was he who, in February, finally activated the Interpol red notice requested by South Africa for the arrests of the Gupta brothers.

One of them, Ajay, escapes this net. Because even though they were targeted by other complaints, they don’t care what justifies the arrest. Which relates only to a rather modest embezzlement of 1.6 million euros, targeting agricultural projects. Race against time because it began to strengthen the South African extradition case. And during the required sixty day delay, the battalion of lawyers serving in the Gupta will also be activated to try to thwart the extradition that would be a real coup for South African justice. While embarrassing some of the country’s political elite.