The City Press has revealed details about emails between the Gupta family and their employees, which it said “has blown the lid off how they have managed to do business with government”.
The City Press said the emails included “a draft letter from President Jacob Zuma to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in which he asks for “patronage” in his bid to “make the UAE a second home”.
The Sunday Times has also reported on the emails, revealing that the Gupta family has been planning to resettle Zuma and his family in Dubai.
The Sunday Times said the “series of explosive emails show the extent of the Saxonwold family’s control over cabinet ministers, and state-owned companies and their CEOs and boards”.
The revelations include ministers and CEOs treated to luxury excursions in Dubai, and how the Gupta family handpicked Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane.
According to the report, Zuma has “denied the claim about setting up residency in Dubai, saying his only home was in Nkandla”.
How South Africa is being stolen
Over the past few years, many reports have suggested that the Gupta family has a corrupt relationship with President Zuma and several of his family members.
The latest report, titled Betrayal of the Promise: How South Africa Is Being Stolen was penned by South African academics, and “connects the dots” using publicly-available information.
The report shows links between president Zuma, the Gupta family, and their many associates and businesses, revealing the exact structure of state capture in South Africa.
This report suggests South Africa has experienced a “silent coup” that has removed the ANC from its place as the primary force for transformation in society.
It aims to change the popular discourse from a focus on corruption to a focus on the systemic nature of “state capture” as the political project of a network which strives to manage the symbiotic relationship between the constitutional state and a shadow state.
The report traces the ANC’s history of transformation, identifies seven areas of capture and control, and details how the shadow state was built.
The conclusion is that a small network of individuals and companies are receiving the full benefit of procurement deals and contracts with state-owned companies – all with links to the president and the Gupta family’s network.
South Africa on the brink of collapse
A week earlier, the South African Council of Churches released its findings on state capture, which painted a bleak picture of Zuma and his allies.
The findings showed how state resources were looted in South Africa by individuals aligned to Zuma.
“South Africa may just be a few inches from the throes of a mafia state from which there may be no return – a recipe for a failed state,” said the council.
The council warned that the country risks collapsing if the ANC does not act on the “systematic siphoning of state assets” pivoted around Zuma.