What we know so far
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola has ordered an internal investigation into why South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, appeared alongside former president Jacob Zuma and Gupta family associate Ajay Gupta at a religious ceremony in India last week.
Speaking to media in Pretoria on 2 July 2026, Lamola said his department had asked its director-general for a full account of how the visit unfolded. “I have noted the newspaper reports and the public information and we have requested information from our director general on how the visit happened, the involvement of DIRCO and the High Commissioner in India,” Lamola said.
The minister was addressing questions after photographs and video from Indian media showed Zuma, Sooklal and Ajay Gupta together at the Siddhpeeth Shri Dakshin Kali Mandir in Haridwar, in India’s Uttarakhand state, on 26 June. Zuma appeared alongside temple leader Swami Kailashanand Giri, describing Gupta as his “brother and friend.”
Lamola drew a firm line on what former heads of state may and may not do abroad. “We must state that while the Presidential Act does allow privileges to flow to former presidents, it does not allow them to run a parallel foreign policy, which seems to be the case now with former president Zuma,” he said, citing earlier Zuma visits to Uganda and Morocco.
Why it matters
Ajay Gupta remains one of South Africa’s most prominent state capture fugitives, and his continued public association with Zuma renews pressure on government to account for how a serving diplomat came to appear at an event with him.
Lamola set out why this distinction matters constitutionally. “When the President of South Africa goes anywhere, he’s mandated through internal procedure of the state and of government… I report to the Cabinet and to government. I also account to Parliament. So a former president does not have all those processes. So really, he can’t be representing the South African government anyway,” he said.
A source close to the matter, speaking to Daily Maverick on condition of anonymity, said Sooklal had been instructed by DIRCO head office to extend standard courtesies to Zuma as a former head of state on a private visit, and had not known Ajay Gupta would attend the prayer meeting. The High Commission had cleared Zuma’s visit with Indian authorities beforehand, the source said.
The episode has also reopened debate about accountability for state capture more broadly. Corruption Watch’s Janine Erasmus described Zuma’s public reunion with Gupta as “a slap in the face for the people of South Africa,” while Democratic Alliance international relations spokesperson Ryan Smith said he had submitted parliamentary questions asking why Sooklal “rolled out the red carpet” for Zuma and Gupta.
Key details and figures
The Zondo Commission, which investigated state capture during Zuma’s 2009 to 2018 presidency, found that the Gupta family had gathered at least R15 billion of the R57 billion in state money it identified as “tainted” by state capture. It found Ajay Gupta helped build the family’s business network into a system that siphoned public funds from Eskom and Transnet, and that the Guptas influenced government appointments and manipulated state advertising budgets.
Ajay Gupta was not personally named for prosecution in the commission’s recommendations, though it recommended prosecuting “members of” the family over the Vrede Dairy and Optimum Coal Mine matters. NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed there is currently “no warrant for arrest against Ajay from our side.”
His brothers, Atul and Rajesh, face a different legal position. Both were arrested in the United Arab Emirates in 2022 under Interpol Red Notices, but a Dubai court rejected South Africa’s extradition request in 2023 on technical grounds. Former National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi said in January 2026 that the NPA would submit a fresh extradition application, and NPA spokesperson Kganyago confirmed this week that “there is a Red Notice against them and the process to extradite them is under way.”
The brothers are also linked to the Nulane Investments case, involving a R25 million Free State government contract for a Vrede Dairy feasibility study that prosecutors allege was used to siphon funds. The NPA re-enrolled that case in June 2026 after successfully appealing an earlier Free State High Court acquittal.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula criticised Zuma’s timing, noting the trip coincided with domestic anti-immigration protests. The MK Party has defended the visit through spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu, who said Zuma “is a private citizen and is entitled to travel wherever he chooses,” and that he has attended the same annual Haridwar event “for many years, dating back to around 2012.”
What happens next
DIRCO’s internal investigation is still under way, with the department awaiting its director-general’s report on how the visit was facilitated, whether it breached the Foreign Service Act, and what role Sooklal played. Lamola has not indicated what consequences, if any, Sooklal could face, or when the inquiry will conclude.
The DA has parliamentary questions pending before Lamola on the matter. Political analysts, including Auwal Socio-Economic Research Institute’s Dr Imraan Buccus and Nelson Mandela University’s Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast, have raised the possibility that Zuma’s trip was linked to fundraising ahead of South Africa’s local government elections on 4 November 2026, though this remains speculation rather than a confirmed fact.
The NPA’s renewed extradition bid for Atul and Rajesh Gupta is proceeding, with no confirmed timeline for a decision by UAE authorities. No new legal action against Ajay Gupta has been announced.
