Nowhere To Hide

The walls seem to be closing in on the Guptas as the US slaps them with sanctions so harsh they may never do business again

- Lesego Maja

FOR years they were the grand puppet masters, pulling the strings of South Africa’s most powerful politicians and bureaucrats as they reaped the rewards of a trillion-rand game of state capture.

But the Gupta brothers’ taxpayer-funded empire appears to be crumbling. Crippling sanctions have been slapped on Ajay, Rajesh, Atul and their associate Salim Essa by the US government – and the once seemingly invincible family could find it very hard to do business anywhere in the world.

In SA, there are encouraging signs state capture culprits are being clamped down on too: the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) recently announced it will be forking out millions of rands to appoint top legal brains to prosecute corrupt individuals.

We unpack what it all means.

WHAT THE AMERICANS HAVE DONE

The US government is cracking down on the Guptas and Essa, whom they describe as “members of a significant corruption network”.

Announcing the sanction – which is being carried out under the Global Magnitsky Act – the US treasury department said the men used “bribery and other acts” to influence SA government contracts and misappropriate state assets.

The Guptas are believed to be moving between Dubai and India, having fled South Africa in 2018.

“This announcement is the result of the deep cooperation between our two governments to fight corruption,” says Robert Mearkle, a spokesperson for the American embassy.

Bill Browder, the American financier and political activist who’s the architect of the legislation, doesn’t mince his words. “Anyone on the Magnitsky list can basically kiss their global financial ambitions goodbye.”

WHAT NOW FOR THE GUPTAS?