In an effort to distance himself away from the poisonous association with the Gupta family name, former minister and businessman Tokyo Sexwale wrote an open letter the Ajay Gupta.

Here’s what Tokyo had to say:

Dear Ajay,

The current tumultuous situation in our country, South Africa, around your Gupta name, family and business entities, also affecting that of President Zuma, the government and party is akin to a political hurricane steadily sweeping around the land.

Both the Gupta and Zuma surnames have come under pressure from various quarters, with sympathy here, hostility there; some saying there’s no smoke without fire, others countering that it’s a smokescreen. Friends are torn apart in the debate; comrades too. Critics have even joined the two names and coined “Zupta”, symbolising, as they say, greed and corruption described as state capture.

Your concern during discussions we recently had at my and later your home was apparent. Indeed, you may have considered some of my comments as so-so. Yet I know that you understand the maxim: friends tell one another the truth – no matter how unpalatable.

A brief reflection on historical lessons: Fellow South Africans of Indian ancestry, landed here in 1654 as Cape Dutch slaves. About two hundred years later, in 1860, a large number arrived from British Colonial India as destitute indentured labour on Natal sugar plantations.

Still interested? Read the rest concerning state capture, some history and some lessons and business-government interactions HERE.

[source: ewn]