(Jacob Zuma. Photo by BBC)
Ex-President Jacob Zuma received strong criticism from the South African government on Friday for allegedly meeting with one of the Gupta brothers in India and embezzling millions of dollars’ worth of state assets.
The 84-year-old Zuma, who was removed from power in 2018 due to accusations of corruption, also hinted at running for reelection in a video posted on social media following the meeting last month.
According to cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, it is “very disturbing that a former state president openly and unapologetically shows the middle finger to South Africans who have lost a lot of money through the Gupta brothers’ shenanigans.”
At a press conference, she stated that Zuma “continues to show a middle finger and claim that he wants to run this country again.”
Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola has accused Zuma of conducting a “parallel foreign policy,” and the government has opened an investigation into the visit.
The three Gupta brothers, who were born in India and established a vast commercial empire in South Africa, fled when a judicial panel began looking into claims in 2018 that they were complicit in a large scam known as “state capture” while Zuma was in charge.
Zuma and one of the brothers, Ajay, are shown in an internet photo at a temple in the Ganges River pilgrimage city of Haridwar.
He refers to him as a “brother and friend” in a video taken during the meeting.
The Gupta brothers allegedly paid bribes to sway cabinet selections and loot state institutions, according to a 2016 graft report by South Africa’s anti-corruption commission.
The fact that Anil Sooklal, the South African high commissioner to India, accompanied Zuma to the meeting with Ajay Gupta, according to Ntshavheni, was a “disgrace.”
Currently leading the opposition Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, Zuma served as president from 2009 to 2018.
The next presidential election in South Africa is scheduled for 2029; local government elections will take place in November of this year.
