showing the middle finger to South Africans who have lost a lot
A photograph taken in an Indian temple has reopened a wound that South Africa has spent years trying to close. Former President Jacob Zuma, now 84 and leading a party with growing electoral support, was photographed alongside Ajay Gupta — one of the businessmen whose alleged manipulation of state institutions during Zuma's presidency cost the country billions and hollowed out its public governance. The meeting, casual in appearance yet charged with history, has prompted official condemnation and a government investigation, raising the uncomfortable question of whether accountability, in the end, has any hold on those who once held power.
- A single photograph of Zuma and Gupta together in an Indian temple has reignited a scandal that a formal commission already ruled devastated South Africa's public institutions.
- Government ministers responded with open fury, with one describing the meeting as Zuma 'showing the middle finger' to every South African who lost money through state capture.
- The South African high commissioner who accompanied Zuma to the meeting now faces a government investigation, with officials accusing Zuma of conducting an unauthorized parallel foreign policy.
- The Gupta brothers remain beyond South Africa's legal reach — two in the UAE after a failed extradition bid, and Ajay's arrest warrant previously cancelled — leaving justice structurally incomplete.
- Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe party won 15 percent of the 2024 vote, and he has now signaled his intention to run for president again, transforming a corruption story into a live electoral threat.
A photograph taken at an Indian temple this week has forced South Africa to confront a chapter it has never fully closed. In it, former President Jacob Zuma stands beside Ajay Gupta, one of three brothers whose alleged manipulation of state power during Zuma's presidency became known as "state capture" — a systematic hijacking of public institutions for private gain that cost the country billions.
The Guptas' influence during the early 2010s was sweeping. They allegedly shaped ministerial appointments, redirected state contracts, and installed loyalists at critical institutions including Eskom, the national electricity utility. Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene was removed in 2015 after resisting their demands, replaced by figures more amenable to the family's agenda. A formal judicial commission concluded in 2022 that Zuma had hired and fired ministers at the Guptas' direction, fundamentally compromising South Africa's economic governance. Both Zuma and the Guptas have denied wrongdoing throughout.
The family left South Africa in 2018 as the commission began its work. Two brothers fled to the UAE, where they successfully resisted extradition in 2023. Ajay's arrest warrant was cancelled. Zuma himself was forced from office that same year, yet has remained politically active — his uMkhonto weSizwe party won roughly 15 percent of the vote in 2024, breaking the ANC's three-decade dominance. After the temple meeting, he signaled his intention to run for president again.
The government's response was sharp. Cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said Zuma was showing contempt for South Africans harmed by the corruption scheme. International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola announced an investigation into the encounter, accusing Zuma of conducting a parallel foreign policy — a charge that also ensnared the South African high commissioner to India, who had accompanied him.
What the photograph ultimately captures is not just a reunion between two men linked by scandal, but a kind of defiance — Zuma appearing unburdened by the commission's findings, willing to stand openly beside one of state capture's central figures. For South Africans still living with weakened institutions and diverted public funds, the image carries a weight that the coming investigation alone is unlikely to resolve.
A photograph taken in an Indian temple this week has reopened one of South Africa's most bitter political wounds. In the image, former President Jacob Zuma stands beside Ajay Gupta, one of three Indian brothers whose names have become synonymous with a sprawling corruption scheme that cost the country billions and destabilized its government. The meeting, and Zuma's apparent comfort in it, has triggered fury among South African officials who see it as contempt for the citizens harmed by the very scheme Zuma is accused of enabling.
The Gupta family's influence over South African policy began in the early 2010s, when their business interests aligned with Zuma's presidency. What emerged from years of investigation was a pattern of extraordinary reach: the brothers allegedly used their proximity to power to shape ministerial appointments, redirect state contracts, and install loyalists throughout critical institutions. In 2015, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene was removed from office after he resisted their demands. Two successors—Des van Rooyen and Malusi Gigaba—took the post and proved far more cooperative with the family's agenda. At Eskom, the state electricity utility that supplies power to the entire nation, the Guptas placed key executives in positions where they could funnel contracts and resources. This web of influence became known as "state capture," a term that describes the systematic hijacking of state institutions for private gain.
Both Zuma and the Guptas have consistently denied wrongdoing. Yet in 2018, as a judicial commission began its formal investigation, the family departed South Africa. Ajay Gupta's arrest warrant was cancelled by authorities the following year. His two younger brothers, Atul and Rajesh, fled to the United Arab Emirates, where they successfully resisted a South African extradition request in 2023. The family's departure did not end the inquiry. In 2022, the commission investigating state capture concluded that Zuma had systematically hired and fired ministers at the Gupta family's direction, fundamentally compromising the country's economic governance.
Zuma himself was forced from office in 2018 following mounting corruption allegations. He has maintained his innocence throughout. Yet his political trajectory has not ended. He now leads the uMkhonto weSizwe party, which captured roughly 15 percent of the vote in South Africa's 2024 elections—a significant result that broke the African National Congress's three-decade grip on power. After the temple meeting with Gupta, Zuma signaled his intention to run for president again.
The photograph has provoked sharp responses from the government. Cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni described Zuma's conduct as "showing the middle finger" to South Africans who lost substantial sums through the alleged corruption. She called his stated presidential ambitions particularly galling, given his age—Zuma is 84—and his history. The government's anger extended to the South African high commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, who accompanied Zuma to the meeting. International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola announced that South Africa would investigate the encounter, suggesting that Zuma was conducting "a parallel foreign policy" outside official channels.
What makes this moment significant is not simply that a former president met with a man accused of corrupting his government. It is that Zuma appears unmoved by the judgment against him, unburdened by the scandal that destroyed his presidency, and willing to associate openly with one of its central figures. For South Africans still reckoning with the cost of state capture—the diverted funds, the weakened institutions, the lost decade of development—the image of Zuma and Gupta together in a temple, smiling, reads as a kind of defiance. The government's investigation will likely take months. In the meantime, Zuma's party continues to build support, and the question of whether he might actually return to power remains unresolved.
Citas Notables
It is very disturbing that a former state president openly and unapologetically shows the middle finger to South Africans who have lost a lot of money through the Gupta brothers' shenanigans.— Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni
Zuma is running a parallel foreign policy.— International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does a photograph matter so much? Zuma and Gupta met—isn't that just two people in a room?
Because it's not just a meeting. It's a statement. Zuma is saying he has no shame about his past, no fear of the judgment against him. For a country still counting the cost of what happened, that's a provocation.
What exactly did the Guptas do that was so damaging?
They didn't just take money. They rewrote how the government worked. They decided which ministers stayed and which were fired. They placed their people inside Eskom, the power company. They turned state institutions into machines for their own profit.
And Zuma allowed this?
The commission concluded he didn't just allow it—he actively participated. He made the calls they wanted made. He removed obstacles. That's why he was forced out.
So why is he still politically viable? Why did his party get 15 percent of the vote?
Because South Africa is fractured. The ANC lost its majority for the first time. People are angry at the establishment. Zuma represents something different, even if that something is tainted. And his supporters argue the charges against him were political.
What happens now?
The government will investigate the meeting. But Zuma has already signaled he wants to run for president again. If he does, South Africa will have to decide whether it's willing to put him back in power, knowing what it knows.