The Guptas, Zuma & The ‘Silent Coup'

As Jacob Zuma survives another attempt to unseat him, we look at the findings of the new state capture report.

- Dennis Cavernelis & Gabisile Ngcobo

SIT tight, South Africa: President Jacob Zuma isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Explosive e-mails charting the Gupta family’s alleged state capture coupled with a damning report probing the extent of the “shadow state” have not managed to unseat him.

And the next leader of SA will have one hell of a battle undoing the alleged takeover of the country by the powerful Saxonwold sect, says Ralph Mathekga, political analyst and author of the book When Zuma Goes.

Provided, of course, he or she isn’t a Gupta lackey.

A recent report by the State Capacity Research Project on state capture, Betrayal of the Promise: How South Africa is Being Stolen, explains how state institutions have been repositioned with the intent of benefiting a select few in what amounts to “a silent coup”.

Zuma’s ability to weather any political storm shows he still has the majority of the ANC behind him, political analyst Daniel Silke says.

And that’s bad news for South Africa. “It means we continue to be more focused on the future of the president rather than concentrating on developing sound policies and addressing serious problems.”

Here’s what’s been going down.

THE E-MAILS 

Leaked e-mails between the Gupta family, Zuma and other South African politicians and officials appear to show how the Guptas got business from government and ingratiated themselves with senior officials.

Included in the e-mails were details of how:

The Guptas were involved in helping Zuma and his family acquire a home in Dubai where the Guptas own a multimillion rand property.