Email saga shows Guptas’ colonial mindset at its worst

THE recent issue around Bell Pottinger/Guptas clearly shows the Gupta-linked businesses and shareholders had very little faith in either South African or even their Indian talent; they had to recruit a firm in the UK to handle their information campaign.

Opting for a British firm and not a South African-owned entity seems strange, especially when you want to be a beneficiary of SA’s BEE laws.

The Gupta association shows how far and wide its business interests have spread with top international firms linked to the email saga.

For these companies to be probed by their international counterparts and governing bodies clearly shows that SA laws were and are not the only applicable authority.

For Oakbay to be de-listed and various firms and banks refusing to be associated with the Guptas says a lot.

Ultimately, the questions to ask are who were the financial beneficiaries and how did this benefit the country and were all such dealings above board?

The email saga is really work of some superb journalism. The allegations are serious and show how some weak SA business leaders fell into the Guptas’ seemingly downward spiral and eventually into obscurity.

Importantly, picking a British firm that gets paid in pounds to tell a South African story from SA profits and government contracts makes no sense. Are South African businesses or talent that useless that we need a British firm to tell our story? This is a colonial mindset of the lowest and worst order. Glenmore Cres, Durban North

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