by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE tendency of senior South African figures meeting fugitives evading prosecution in the country is a worrying trend in a nation battling a surge in corruption and facing accusations of laxity in prosecuting such crimes.
Former president Jacob Zuma, a key suspect in major corruption scandals for more than two decades, is again at the centre of controversy after travelling to India where he, alongside South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, met fugitive Ajay Gupta.
South African authorities want Gupta and other members of his family over allegations they looted billions of rand from the state during the State Capture era.
They fled South Africa in early 2018 for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) shortly before Zuma resigned from office and eventually made their way to their homeland, India.
Efforts by the South African government to have them extradited to face a myriad of charges linked to State Capture have hit a snag.
The brothers, Ajay, Atul and Rajesh, are wanted in South Africa on charges including fraud, money laundering, corruption, racketeering and high treason related to the widespread abuse of government funds and state-owned entities.
In recent days, footage has emerged featuring Ajay and the former president Zuma, in a meeting said to have been facilitated by Sooklal.
A beaming Zuma is shown describing Gupta as a brother and a friend.
He is quoted in the video telling journalists that Gupta was chased out of South Africa. The pair also visited a temple.
This has triggered yet another row between Zuma and the South African government he once led, as well as the African National Congress (ANC), from which he was expelled after founding the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) in 2023 in retaliation against the ANC, which he also previously led.
On Friday, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, during a briefing following a Cabinet meeting, criticised the former president and the envoy.
The minister said President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government was disturbed that the former head of state had unapologetically shown South Africans “the middle finger”.
“It shows the type of person he is, and it’s for South Africans to judge,” she said.
Ntshavheni said that, regarding the conduct of the ambassador, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, had requested a formal report and indicated that stern measures would be taken.
“It is a level of disgrace that our own employee, the representative of the government of South Africa, hobnobs with criminals instead of doing his job to ensure that the fugitives are brought back to South Africa so that they can face the criminal justice system,” Ntshavheni said.
She noted it was not the first time Zuma had defied South Africa’s foreign policy.
In July 2025, he visited Morocco and met Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates.
The South African national flag was displayed during the meeting, giving the impression of an official state-level engagement.
Zuma used the visit to announce his party’s support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan regarding the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
This directly violated South Africa’s long-standing foreign policy, which formally backs the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the right to self-determination for the Sahrawi people.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said Zuma, through the visit to India, was “spitting in the face of our law enforcement agencies.”
“Instead of partying up a storm with runaway criminals, Zuma should inform the government where these people who almost collapsed and captured our state are,” he said.
The visit has also sent shockwaves through Zuma’s factionalised MKP.
His daughter, Dudu Zuma-Sambudla, who was recently fired from the party, described the India visit as “chaos”, saying they had warned the party leadership about the trip.
Floyd Shivambu, who was removed from his role as Secretary-General of the MKP in 2025 after visiting fugitive church leader Shepherd Bushiri in Malawi, also weighed in.
Bushiri and his wife, Mary, are wanted in South Africa on multiple charges, including fraud, money laundering and theft. They are also facing separate allegations of rape and violating South Africa’s Immigration, Civil Aviation and Banking Acts.
They controversially left the country in 2020 while on bail.
Shivambu now leads the Afrika Mayibuye Movement (AMM).
“Association with and embrace of the Gupta criminal syndicate is an absolute no,” he responded.
Earlier this year, President Ramaphosa came under criticism for a reported informal meeting with controversial Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo, who is reportedly wanted by the South African Police Service for alleged money laundering.
– CAJ News