Grinning Atul Gupta asks SA to stop killing his sisters

Controversial businessman and President Jacob Zuma’s friend Atul Gupta found himself on the firing line on Facebook after sharing his thoughts on the recent abductions and killings of women that have gripped the country.

A possibly photoshopped picture of Gupta has been circulating on Facebook shows him apparently extending his right hand towards the camera with “stop killing our sisters” written on it. In the picture, Gupta is in what looks like an office building, as he poses for the camera with a broad smile.

The picture was shared on Facebook by Mzansi Humour with the caption “The President has spoken”.

What started off as an innocent plea for the safety of South African women from Gupta soon turned into insults from Facebook users, though, who felt that the Indian immigrant, who has now been ranked by the Sunday Times rich list as the richest “black man” in South Africa, had no right to comment on South African issues when he was busy “stealing our money”.

Though some said he was right in what he did and he was supporting a worthy cause, they were bothered by his smile, which seemed quite out of keeping with the serious and disturbing nature of the topic.

Users asked if he thought the killing of women was funny.

“Who are his sisters?” some have also asked.

These were some of the comments on the post:

“Stop stealing our money.”

“What a powerful message from the presidency.”

“So why a smiley face?”

“Maybe they will stop as the President has spoken.”

“Stop Looting Our Country.”

“He doesn’t take this issue we facing seriously it’s a joke to him.”

“Stop killing our Country.”

“I didn’t know that Indian girls were also being killed.”

“GUPTA …. So and then why sucker .. smiling .. When things are so tragic … You know what that say …hey ..it’s not what you say is how you say it..!! It’s like saying I’m sorry while you chuckling.”

“State of the Nation address right there.”

Some, however, said the picture looked photoshopped and that someone just wanted to make a joke of Gupta’s picture. He could have been waving at someone, and then someone thought to photoshop the words on his hand.