Jacob Zuma has never been shy about his friends. Last Friday the former president turned up at the Sidipeeth Shri Dakshin Kali Temple in Haridwar, India, draped in rose petals, standing next to Ajay Gupta and telling reporters he had come to visit his "brother and friend" who had been "forced out of South Africa."
He said he felt he would win elections and return to power, "because people of God have been with me" (a bold claim for a man who currently owes R29 million in personal legal fees).
This is the Ajay Gupta whose family the Zondo Commission found had gathered at least R15 billion of the R57 billion in state money tainted by state capture during Zuma’s presidency. The family fled South Africa in 2018. According to the NPA, there is no active arrest warrant against Ajay.
South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, was also in the photograph. He was smiling.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola has ordered an internal investigation into why his diplomat was there. His spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, confirmed the probe on 2 July.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni called Zuma’s conduct a "middle finger" to South Africans and described Sooklal’s presence as a "disgrace."
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula took to Facebook to say Zuma "went to go meet with the Guptas, who are fugitives of the law in South Africa. Spitting in the face of our law enforcement agencies."
"Instead of partying up a storm with runaway criminals," Mbalula wrote, "Jacob Zuma should inform the government where are these people who almost collapsed and captured our state."
DA international relations spokesperson Ryan Smith has submitted parliamentary questions to determine why Sooklal "rolled out the red carpet" for the pair.
A source told Daily Maverick that Sooklal was following standard protocol for a visiting former head of state and did not know Gupta would be at the temple until the day before. Sooklal had been independently invited to the prayer meeting by Swami Kailashanand Giri.
MK party spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu rejected the criticism, saying Zuma is "a private citizen and is entitled to travel wherever he chooses" and has attended the annual event since "around 2012."
The Guptas face corruption and money-laundering charges in the R25 million Nulane Investment case. Atul and Rajesh Gupta were arrested in the UAE in 2022, and a Dubai court threw out the extradition request in 2023. Ajay was not charged.
NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed there is no warrant for Ajay. OUTA investigator Rudi Heyneke put it bluntly: "He didn’t get his hands dirty on anything." He used his brothers, especially Rajesh.
A former president, garlanded with flowers, beside the man whose family allegedly looted R15 billion, SA’s top diplomat grinning in the frame.
The Guptas have always been Zuma’s people. He has just stopped pretending otherwise.