177 Global News Post 1

Mahajan, K. (2019, March 3). How the Gupta brothers hijacked South Africa using bribes instead of Bullets. Vanity Fair. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/03/how-the-gupta-brothers-hijacked-south-africa-corruption-bribes

Pearce Richer

The Gupta Family have their origins in India but have found an abundance of wealth after moving to South Africa in the 1930s. Currently, the three brothers at the forefront of the family are Atul, Rajesh, and Ajay. The family has prominent business dealings in tech and research, but what makes it so interesting is their level of political influence in South Africa. They were very close with Jacob Zuma, who was President in South Africa from 2009 to 2018. It was a mutual relationship, where Zuma’s kids were able to acquire high positions in these companies, and the Gupta Family was able to sway many political decisions. This is part of a bigger scheme globally where lobbying and, even further, corruption have begun to sweep through so many countries. South Africa has unfortunately been defined heavily by state capture. Particularly, Zuma spoke extensively with management consultant firm Bain to “repurpose state institutions.” Multiple state owned enterprises were “captured,” as stated in many news sources. And SARS, the equivalent of the IRS in South Africa, was shut down. Many were left in financial ruin, money was lost, and South Africa appeared to be a failed state. Meanwhile, the Gupta brothers had the power to appoint government officials of their liking.

These events in South Africa, as highlighted in the article, are part of a growing kleptocracy problem among many countries. In this situation, along with others, it points to the fact that the fortunate, influential, and extremely-wealthy are the only people who survive in these scenarios. From what I have seen on many other websites and whatnot, this is a heavily covered event in South Africa. But, I am wondering if this was possibly an attempt to create more apartheid in the country.

Article: Wild, S. (2022, December 8). State capture in South Africa by the Gupta family: A lesson on political influence. Global Voices. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://globalvoices.org/2022/12/07/state-capture-in-south-africa-by-the-gupta-family-a-lesson-on-political-influence/