Hooked on wealth ‘fix’ their downfall
THE Guptas sold shoes and computers in 1996 when they first settled in South Africa. This they did out of the car boot.
A gap in the ICT market prompted them to set up Sahara Computers. Establishing this venture was swift and huge income flowed unhindered. Greed, though, started to set in.
On the back of this, they used every opportunity and platform to make money and to network in high places, while inadvertently their pursuit of wealth triggered by greed became an addiction.
They may have confused addiction to wealth and business acumen with a toxic mixture of greed and power. The lines were blurred.
Soon the addiction became drenched in audacity, manipulation and gross insensitivity to others. In this quest for wealth and power, the needs and feelings of citizens and a country were dumped.
In Hendrina the Guptas’ Optimum coal mine was responsible for the payment of the water account for the community, but they did this erratically and at times not at all, leading to frequent water cuts, sometimes for days, forcing some residents to bathe in the nearby dam.
The over 200 000 explosive Gupta e-mails revealed their entrenched and vast parasitic network of deceit, maladministration and money laundering across key parastatals in South Africa.
The Trillian Capital Partners debacle was an example of how Eskom was billed hundreds of millions of rand for no or little work done. Trillian has now agreed to pay this back.
You never get enough of what you do not really want. The psychological perspective on obscene wealth and power is not about wealth accumulation, but more about the need for love, acceptance, praise and the need to be recognised.
Much of these cannot be bought with money but it seems that the Guptas pursued this to mask their inadequacies.
The Guptas conspired with British PR firm Bell Pottinger to discredit then deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas, who refused their offer of the finance minister position in return for a half a billion rand bribe, retribution with guile. There is immense pleasure from acquiring wealth and power due to the euphoria there is each time a deal is done.
Soon enough dependency sets in needing a regular, bigger fix. Their luxuries, houses and excesses are seriously needed by them to make them look worthwhile and accepted and is central to everything they do. The infamous Sun City wedding was part of this charade.
The relentless pursuit of wealth is mind-altering and the behaviour distorting. The power from obscene wealth boosts the testosterone level, which increases dopamine levels in the brain rendering the person in a euphoric state. This euphoric state becomes an addiction, which needs regular, bigger doses to satisfy, hence the Guptas’ plundering and pariah nature.
The Guptas accumulated vast wealth, hoarded it and did not give any away. Their companies wreaked considerable damage to communities and families, while their successes contributed very little most of the time. They have been cunning, overly competitive, aggressive and merciless with a dose of belligerence. The job losses under their watch have been staggering.
BC Forbes said: “The man who has won millions at the cost of his conscience is a failure.” The Guptas are now a spectacular failure.
They became unsympathetic and treated people as objects, while they ran a massive looting and plundering machine in South Africa.
How brazen this was is borne out by their project to build an R800 million temple in Saharanpur in memory of their father. Another fix for wanting acceptance there. One of the Gupta brothers is worth over R11 billion and he started selling shoes and computers from his car boot. How was this possible?
They have much to answer to while the net closes on them. Today they have everything but no happiness. As Bertrand Russel said: “To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.”