ANDILE NTINGI: Gupta ghost must not haunt SA-UAE relations

The ghost of the Gupta family irregularly landing a privately chartered plane at the Waterkloof Airforce Base in Tshwane in 2013 still haunts South Africans a decade on. The incident led to many citizens asking whether their government had sold off the country to the wealthy and influential Guptas, who indeed turned out to be enjoying a close friendship with then-President Jacob Zuma and his family.  

Ten years since the Guptas infamously landed the plane carrying 270 wedding guests from India at Waterkloof airbase, a restricted national key point, another plane, carrying UAE royals and their entourage of 680 people, landed at a military and police airbase in the Eastern Cape, evoking the memories of the Gupta Waterkloof landing.  

Last month a political firestorm erupted after the media reported that Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (also known as MBZ), president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, and his large entourage had landed at the Bulembu Airport in Bhisho. The passenger jet was accompanied by two cargo aeroplanes bringing goods for the travelling party. 

It was also reported that Sheikh Mohammed, who was on a vacation in SA at his game resort situated between Makhanda and Bedford, had spent R20m to upgrade the airport to accommodate the planes; that the UAE planned to lease a portion of Bulembu for the royals; and that there was a pledge to spend an additional R50m to upgrade the airport. 

The first time I became aware of the Bulembu landing was when one of my cousins sent me a picture of the passenger jet on the tarmac with a meme saying the UAE leader was in Bhisho for lobola negotiations to marry an amaRharhabe (Xhosa) princess. The planes instantly attracted attention and became a source of curiosity and intrigue for the locals in the quiet Eastern Cape capital while opposition political parties described the landing as WaterKloof 2 and called for a full investigation.

The last time the Bulembu Airport was linked to a major aviation event was in 2012 when the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) unsuccessfully attempted to establish a low-cost airline flying between Bhisho, Johannesburg and Cape Town. The airport has been out of the public eye since. 

The matter escalated quickly, to a point where SA’s official opposition party, the DA, submitted a Promotion of Access to Information (Paia) Act application to the Eastern Cape government to force it to disclose how it arrived at the decision to lease a portion of the Bulembu Airport to the UAE royals.  

Another opposition party, the African Transformation Movement (ATM), wants the Public Protector to investigate Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane and home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi over the Bulembu landing. The controversy has highlighted the deep mistrust between South Africans and their government. Memories of the Gupta Waterkloof scandal are still fresh in our minds and are unlikely to fade away any time soon. 

Since the Bulumbu landing, the department of home affairs has been at pains to explain that we are not dealing with Waterkloof 2, as immigration and customs regulations were applied when the UAE royals arrived in our country. According to the ministry, the Bulembu Airport was given a temporary international port of entry status to receive the sheikh since he is a head of state. Therefore, it is understandable that a red carpet was rolled out for Sheikh Mohammed compared to the Guptas, who were private citizens and did not have any official designation.  

Public outrage

It was established that the Guptas violated our immigration laws when they landed their plane at Waterkloof, but no evidence has been advanced so far to prove that immigration and customs laws were not followed when the UEA royals arrived at Bulembu airport.  

In the absence of any evidence, the question is, what caused the public and political outrage over the Bulumbu landing? I believe the UAE royals became a target of outrage because their country is harbouring the Gupta brothers — Ajay, Rajesh and Atul — and their accomplice, Salim Essa, who fled to Dubai when they were wanted by the SA authorities for their alleged involvement in state capture corruption, fraud and money laundering.  

The Guptas are implicated in improperly influencing the awarding of a portion of the R54.4bn Transnet tender for the manufacturing of 1,064 locomotives to state-owned China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC). SA has unsuccessfully tried to extradite the Gupta brothers from the UAE to face justice.  

If there was no Gupta-UAE link, the SA public would not care about the landing of the UAE royals at an obscure, underutilised airport; in the Eastern Cape, a province with a 42.4% unemployment rate that is struggling to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). The investment in a game farm and the planned upgrading of the Bulembu Airport by the UAE royals is a development that must be welcomed. This shows that the UAE royals perceive SA as an attractive investment and tourism destination. But poor handling of the extradition of the Guptas could sour the relationship between our country and the oil-rich Gulf state. The two nations must co-operate on the matter.  

Tourism marketing agency SA Tourism must take advantage of the highly publicised visit by the UAE royals to aggressively sell SA as a destination in the Middle East market. SA currently enjoys a favourable trade relationship with the UAE. In 2021 we exported $4.47bn worth of goods to the UAE while importing $2.4bn worth of goods from the Gulf state. There is room to grow this economic relationship between the two countries, but the Gupta extradition matter might jeopardise this relationship.

I believe the UAE can play a positive role in developing the economy of the Eastern Cape, which is a poor province that desperately needs employment and investment. 

• Ntingi is Founder of GetBiz.