Zuma accused of plans to give business allies control of state assets
The Guardian|May 02, 2022
Johannesburg Jacob Zuma has been accused of systematic and "unlawful" efforts to give business allies control of billions of dollars' worth of state assets by the judge charged with investigating wrongdoing during the former president's years in power in South Africa.
Jason Burke
Zuma accused of plans to give business allies control of state assets

Raymond Zondo, who was appointed in 2018 to lead an inquiry into allegations of systematic corruption under Zuma's rule, handed his latest report to the current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Friday.

The 1,000-page document accuses businessmen brothers Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta of being the beneficiaries of Zuma's efforts to fire competent officials, intervene in management decisions, appoint compliant ministers and influence the award of contracts worth huge sums.

Zondo said the Guptas, who came to South Africa from India in the 1990s and built a sprawling commercial empire, had identified Zuma as someone "whose character was such that [the Guptas] could use him against the people of South Africa, and his own government to advance their own business interests".

This story is from the May 02, 2022 edition of The Guardian.

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