The South African government said on June 6 that UAE’s law enforcement authorities have arrested Rajesh Gupta and Atul Gupta of the Gupta family. It however remains unclear why Ajay Gupta, the third brother was not arrested.
Extradition discussions between various law enforcement agencies in the UAE and South Africa are going on. Interpol had issued Red Notices to the Gupta brothers who had also been declared persona non grata by the US and the UK.
Originally from Saharanpur in India, the Gupta family entered South Africa by setting up a shoe store in the early 1990s. They soon expanded their business to IT, media and mining companies, most of which have now been sold off or closed.
The Gupta brothers are accused in South Africa of using their relationship with former president Jacob Zuma to profit financially and influence senior appointments. However they have vehemently denied these charges.
The family fled South Africa in 2018 following public protests which eventually led to the ANC removing Zuma and appointing Cyril Ramaphosa as the Acting President.
Earlier, since South Africa did not have any extradition treaty with the UAE, the former had appealed to the UN to get the Guptas back to South Africa when negotiations with the UAE did not yield results.
The treaty was ratified in June 2021, when South Africa immediately began the process of requesting extradition of the Guptas.
The Guptas told the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in 2018 that they were not prepared to return to South Africa to testify after a number of witnesses implicated them and Zuma in corrupt cases. The brothers called the South African authorities ‘recklessly incompetent’ in their affidavit to the commission.
A number of witnesses testified the role of the Guptas in influencing the appointment of Cabinet ministers during the nine-year tenure of Zuma as the South African president.
