How world sees SA: Gupta brothers reveal true ANC colours

EDINBURGH — It's been nearly a year since South Africa finally got shot of its corrupt president Jacob Zuma and waved goodbye to the greedy Gupta brothers. But, the saga is not forgotten. The world spotlight is still on corruption in South Africa, with The New York Times setting out what the rise of the Gupta family reveals about the ruling African National Congress. Its journalists have been scouting around in India and elsewhere to pick up, and understand, the narrative of the state capture scandal. The ANC has a new president but its reputation remains sullied, to the detriment of the nation. Now desperate to distance themselves from the brothers, ANC leaders dismiss the family as a legacy of the Zuma era. "But the story of the Guptas — who landed in the country a year before the end of apartheid in 1994 and left with Mr. Zuma's fall — is also the story of South Africa under the ANC," cautions The New York Times. – Jackie Cameron

By Thulasizwe Sithole

Even here in India, the Gupta family's legacy — so large that it has been elevated to myth — faces collapse, reports The New York Times. A grand new temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva in their father's honour, is now being investigated for the same kind of self-dealing and fraud the family is accused of mastering in South Africa, it tells its international audience.

"The rise and fall of the Gupta brothers is so improbable that in Saharanpur their story is told like a parable.

"They began by selling shoes in South Africa and swiftly became central figures in the nation's post-apartheid history, outsiders who broke into the very pinnacle of political power. Seemingly overnight, they joined the ranks of South Africa's most influential families, playing a leading role in one of the biggest dramas after the end of apartheid: Who is getting rich, and how?"

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