International campaign to bring back the Guptas

Global collaboration and action to bring the Gupta’s to South Africa.

The international campaign to bring back the Guptas, spearheaded by the Ahmed Kathrada
Foundation, with local and international organisations and activists calls for the successful
extradition of the Guptas to South Africa to account for their alleged involvement in state capture
in South Africa.

The Gupta family name has become synonymous with state capture, corruption, and fraud. The
alleged corrupt acts said to have been committed by the Gupta brothers is no secret, from shady
backdoor deals to rigged contracts and the wholesale plunder of national resources.
Currently, the Gupta family has fled South Africa and is presumed to be living in Dubai. An
extradition treaty between South Africa and the United Arab Emirates was signed on 9 July 2021.
Earlier this year, the Investigating Directorate of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) took
former Gupta associate Iqbal Sharma, among others, to court over a R24.9-million alleged scam
paid between November 2011 and April 2012 by the Free State government to Nulane
Investment, owned and controlled by Sharma. Additionally, the NPA is attempting a restraint
over R1-billion on Regiments Capital- an alleged Gupta linked firm- as it is alleged to be the
proceeds of crime.

The international campaign aims to:

1. Ensure the said corrupt activities committed by the Guptas and their associates remain
   in the public spotlight;
2. Lobby country ambassadors, officials, and bodies of authority to consider actions
   against the Gupta family and their businesses in their respective areas;
3. Advocate and mobilize for the successful extradition of the Guptas to South Africa.

The campaign is framed around three fundamental pillars: 1. Advocacy & lobby 2. Public
education 3. Pressure on all the responsible parties to speed up the extradition and

prosecution of the implicated Gupta family members and their associates. The pillars serve
as a guidance system for achieving the campaign aims.

Following the campaign’s launch, key actions for 2022 include ongoing lobbying engagements
with country officials and authorities, the commencement of public education and awareness
sessions with communities- focusing on issues of corruption, its impacts on the state of the
country and what can be done to counter it—and shedding light on the human cost of corruption
through interviewing employees of Gupta-led/linked companies and sharing their experiences.

The culture of corruption in South Africa is systemic- it does not exist in a vacuum. Therefore, to
advocate for and ensure justice, we need to actively work towards bringing to the fore the web of
individuals and companies who are complicit in the crimes of the corrupt. ‘The Orange book:
Faces of Corruption’ will be an ongoing action of the campaign and is a digital handbook that
lists and details all who were and are associated with the Guptas alleged crimes. We witnessed
the orchestrated and systematic looting of our country’s finances, resources, and institutions
during state capture, with the total cost being almost R60 billion.
We call for the consideration of the application of sanctions, under the Magnitsky Act, to be placed
on the Guptas and their associates in countries with business interests. Magnitsky sanctions
target those responsible for human rights violations or corruption. The United States placed
economic sanctions, under the act, on the Gupta brothers, as well as their associate Salim Essa.
Additionally, the United Kingdom has also placed sanctions against the Gupta family under
Britain’s new Magnitsky act.

We urge the South African government, Department of Justice, National Prosecuting Authority,
and the United Arab Emirates to act on the extradition treaty and bring the Guptas back to South
Africa to account for their alleged corrupt activities.

9 December marks International anti-corruption day, a symbolic and powerful moment that makes
a clear call to political leaders, governments, legal and justice bodies, activists, and citizens to
join forces in the fight against corruption.

The launch of this campaign is but one of the many needed to ensure that the fight against state
capture is kept going and will be continued until such time that one of the key drivers and

beneficiaries of capture are seen in orange overalls after having gone through the judicial
processes of South Africa.

Zondo Commission of Inquiry report into state capture is scheduled to be submitted to the
President in January 2022 and will subsequently be made public. Given Guptas centrality in the
commission’s work, we look forward to its findings and recommendations in general and on the
Gupta’s in particular.
This campaign will be one of the many responses to the report which should serve as the key
guidelines on the programme of work and action needed to eradicate state capture in South Africa.
The very essence of our democracy is at risk from past and current state capture and compels us
to ensure that this report does not end up gathering dust in Union Buildings.

Supported by:
OUTA
Corruption Watch
SACP
Defend Our Democracy
Mosilo Mothepu
Citizens of Conscience Foundation NPC
Section27
Right2Know
Shadow World Investigations
Action for Southern Africa