The varied roles of the Guptas, SA's own cast of Bollywood villains
The thugs that Zuma would have given us to were thieves first, corrupters of men and women, bullies and sexual predators - each with his own part to play
It is difficult to decide which of the Gupta brothers is most hateful: most South Africans would choose Atul or Ajay. Rajesh, aka Tony, has not figured as much on citizens’ radars, although he also comes across as, to risk a stereotype, worse than any Bollywood villain. Atul was the mastermind of the state-capture project and Ajay appears to have been the enforcer, perhaps taking a leaf from family friend Essop Pahad. It is unclear when Atul met Jacob Zuma, with many reports stating it was in the early to mid-1990s. By 2003, Zuma’s son Duduzane was working for the family and they had control over the future president by the mid-2000s. After he became president, Zuma visited the family on Thursday evenings, a day after cabinet meetings. A 2005 photo shows Zuma and Ajay at their home. Atul began the family business in SA by selling shoes before moving on to computers and establishing Sahara, the IT division and springboard for moves into uranium, coal and gold mines, an airline, engin...
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