Mystery surrounds the fate of South Africa's President Jacob Zuma after an official report by an independent watchdog titled “State of Capture” inferred suspicious ties between the president, three cabinet ministers and a family of wealthy businessmen. Zuma, 74, and the accused ministers took excessive judicial steps to block the publication of the report by public prosecutor, but Zuma's lawyer eventually backed down and the 355-page report was published 2 November. The battle to suppress the report was not limited to the courts, but spilled over into protests outside the Constitutional Court demanding the report not be kept secret. The report states that for many years the president had strong ties with the wealthy Gupta family from India, that allowed the family to pick and choose cabinet ministers to serve their commercial interests. The president — who could face a fourth no-confidence vote and impeachment — his ministers and the Guptas deny any wrongdoing. The report included reference to a long and detailed meeting with Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas who claimed that Ajay Gupta offered him the position of finance minister a few weeks before the president changed three finance ministers in one week. Jonas said that Duduzane Zuma, the president's son, took him to the Gupta residence. According to Jonas, Gupta told him his family companies profited 6 billion South African rand ($443 million) from deals with the government, and they plan to earn another R2 billion ($147 million). Within months, Jonas reported the meeting and the public prosecutor's office launched an investigation which concluded with “State of Capture”. Vytjie Mentor, a (former) MP from the African National Congress Party, said the Guptas attempted to offer her the position of minister of public enterprises in charge of state-owned firms in October, 2015. According to the report, the Guptas told Mentor she would rise from being an unknown parliamentarian to become a key minister in the cabinet within weeks. In return for the appointment, Mentor would need to cancel the flight route of South Africa Airways from Johannesburg, a major South African city, to Mumbai, India's financial capital, in order for the Gupta airline to take over this profitable route. When Mentor turned the Guptas down, she was surprised to see Zuma walk in and say: “It's okay girl… take care of yourself,” and then escorted her out of the house. The report said the Guptas had the power to fire cabinet ministers if they tried to obstruct the ambitions of the family that recently immigrated to South Africa. Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene lost his job after he “insisted on applying the law”, according to the report. He was succeeded by an unknown MP, Des Van Rooyen, who tried to stop the report out of concern his name is mentioned, especially since his telephone records showed he visited the Gupta residence days before he was appointed. After a few days in office, Van Rooyen was demoted to a less important ministry. The status of Minister of Public Enterprises Barbara Hogan was more clear. Zuma dismissed her when she insisted on ending “interference” in appointing board members of South African Airways, Transnet Railway Company and Eskom Electricity Company. The report further claimed that Mining Minister Mosebenzi Zwane enabled the Guptas to become the main supplier of coal to state-owned Eskom. Zwane also tried to quash the report. Incumbent Minister of Enterprises Lynn Brown is accused of approving the board of Eskom Electricity Company and ignoring Gupta monopoly practices in energy, stated the report. It explained that Gupta's exploration and natural resources company bought one of the largest coal mines in the country for $160 million, a deal that Brown facilitated through preferential treatment of the Guptas. According to the local press, Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta immigrated to South Africa in 1993, after the end of apartheid. The Gupta brothers, all in their 40s, come from Uttar Pradesh province in north India. Ajay, who was surprised at the minimal bureaucracy compared to India, was the first to start a family company, Sahara Computers. Although the Guptas began as a small business, Sahara now employs some 10,000 people with $22 million in annual revenues. One of Gupta's mining companies once employed the president's sixth wife, Bongi Ngema-Zuma. Zuma's son Duduzane was an executive in one of the Gupta companies before he resigned because of public pressure. One of the president's daughters is an executive at Sahara. The Guptas are involved in several sectors, including mining, aviation, media and technology, but their name is not listed among the wealthiest in South Africa because no neutral body has evaluated their actual worth. What brought attention to the Guptas is the wedding of one of their daughters to a businessman from New Delhi. Their private jet landed at a military airbase, which raised questions about their influence. There is growing pressure on Zuma, who has been in power since 2009 and survived three no-confidence votes. He could face a fourth vote next week to end his tenure early before 2017. He previously won two terms in elections. The Nelson Mandela Foundation called on Zuma to resign because of the corruption scandal that involved several state officials. Zuma has been accused of many corruption scandals, but none were proven. His ties to the Gupta clan could end his political career, especially after the rival Democratic Alliance gained ground during local elections in August. After the report was published, Zuma said he does not fear jail where he spent a decade during his struggle against apartheid. The report recommended forming a committee to further investigate corruption allegations, which complicates the political position of the president and his ruling party that has been in power since apartheid ended at the hands of the late Nelson Mandela.
