The saga of the Gupta family in South Africa resonates with the enchanting flourishes of a fairy-tale. The three brothers – Ajay, Rajesh and Atul - migrated to the country a decade ago just as it was transiting from the apartheid regime to a multi-racial, democratic one. In this brief period the brothers built a multi-billion business empire. It includes the influential New Age newspaper, a computer company and a controlling stake in a uranium mining enterprise.
A toast of the Indian community, the Guptas cast their lot with the ruling African National Congress and, in the bargain, developed powerful connections with the emerging black political and bureaucratic elites. They were known to be especially close to President Jacob Zuma. Along the way, they established close ties with prominent politicians in India, and particularly in Uttar Pradesh.
Back home, during the jamborees held by New Delhi to reach out to the Indian diaspora, the Guptas were heralded as role models. They had demonstrated their business acumen in an alien environment with unmatched flair even as they had held steadfast to their religious and cultural traditions. It is their wealth and their adherence to these traditions that they planned to flaunt at the marriage of their niece, Vega, to the India-based Akash Jahajgarhia.
No expenses were to be spared to celebrate what the South African media called the ‘wedding of the century.’ All the rooms at Sun City - an exclusive leisure resort located not far from Johannesburg – were booked for guests who would be flown in chartered planes. The guest list, the local media reported, included the cream of South Africa’s political and business worlds. Heading the list was none other than President Zuma.
Kathakali dancers from Kerala, Rajasthani musicians and a phalanx of Bollywood stars were in attendance to entertain them. Cooks from India prepared an array of Indian delicacies. As is customary in traditional Indian weddings, the celebrations were spread over four days. The finale was even more spectacular: the newly-weds floated in an imitation Roman bath on a pontoon constructed across a pool to greet the guests.
All this was akin to a reverie of a kind that South Africa had never witnessed before. The opulence on display in a country still wracked with poverty did provoke a sneer in liberal and left-wing circles. But this did not detract from the sheer scale and colour of the festivities. The Gupta brothers achieved what they sought to achieve: to celebrate their business success, prove their political clout and, above all, drive home the richness and diversity of a resurgent India’s ancient traditions.
Or so they assumed until the script went abruptly awry. In the midst of the gaiety, media reports revealed that the plane the Gupta brothers had chartered to ferry some 200 guests from India – an Airbus A330 - had landed at the restricted and high-security Watkerkloof Air Force Base. This facility was provided only to military officials and foreign dignitaries. The Gupta rushed to explain that they had been given permission for the plane to land at the base. But officials of the concerned government agencies – including the defence ministry – denied that the permission had not been sought, let alone granted.
But that was only the beginning of the troubles that awaited the Guptas. Questions were raised about the propriety of the decision of the South African National Police Service to provide a VIP escort to guests to go from the airport to Sun City. Then there was a report – swiftly denied by the Guptas – that the hosts did not want black staff of the resort to serve the guests. Charges of racism flew thick and fast.
The South African government quickly slipped into a damage control mode. It ordered a probe into the lapses. Heads of several police and military officials rolled. A probe was ordered to determine, among other things, if the Indian High Commission had brought pressure to bear on South African officials to allow the chartered plane to land at the air force base. And President Zuma cancelled his appearance at the wedding.
However, for the opposition parties and for large sections of the media in South Africa, Guptagate carries another message altogether: the nexus between the corporate world, politicians of the ruling ANC and senior official across the board. Whether the conclusions reached by the probe Zuma has ordered will ever get to the bottom of things is a moot point.
The Guptas have twice in the past landed their helicopters in areas that are out-of-bounds and got away with the transgressions. But make no mistake: the big fat Indian wedding they held is going to be a blot on their boast that they are upholders of Indian entrepreneurship and India’s cultural traditions. They are much like their counterparts back home who are purveyors of that ostensible elixir.
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