New York Times article blames ANC, not just Guptas, for state capture

US newspaper The New York Times has released a detailed piece on the rise and fall of the controversial Gupta family.

While the article is mainly about the Guptas, and certainly doesn’t let the family off the hook regarding its alleged corruption, it also takes aim at the ANC, writing that “the main agent of corruption was the party itself”.

According to the article, while the ANC has since tried to distance itself from the Gupta brothers, their story is also “the story of South Africa under the ANC”.

The article goes on to list some of the party’s alleged crimes.

The party has siphoned off tens of billions of dollars meant to help “their most loyal supporters, poor black South Africans”, has “crippled government agencies” and has earned comparisons to the “mafia” for “assassinating fellow party members” to cover up corruption, the publication alleges.

The article also says that some of the South Africa’s “new leaders” who promised a “new chapter” after former president Jacob Zuma’s departure have “pocketed money meant for basic services, like schools”.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane took to Twitter to say he’d read the piece, saying he hopes the SA media have the “courage” to cover the ANC in a similar way.

“I read this piece today. It’s a reminder of a system of corruption that has become the ANC. I do hope that arrests are made of the syndicate that has captured our nation. We need change and I hope our media have the courage to report with such exposition,” he said.

The full article, which has at its centre a temple in India built by the family that is being investigated by the Indian authorities amid allegations that it is being used as a front for money laundering, can be read here.

I read this piece today. It’s a reminder of a system of corruption that has become the ANC. I do hope that arrests are made of the syndicate that has captured our nation. We need change and I hope our media have the courage to report with such exposition. https://t.co/hKjePUaNyU

— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) December 23, 2018

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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