NEW DELHI: When brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta moved to South Africa from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, it is said their father Shiv Kumar Gupta had told them that Africa would become the next America of the world. More than two decades later, Africa might not have become the next America, the Gupta brothers have become powerful tycoons in the African country, often called ' Zuptas ' for their proximity to President Jacob Zuma The Guptas have made news recently when Bank of Baroda decided to close accounts of the companies controlled by them to ensure compliance with banking rules, according to a Bloomberg report. The Guptas have been accused by opposition parties and some ruling party officials of influencing cabinet appointments and government contracts by using their proximity to President Zuma. The Guptas, however, have denied the allegations.Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that a number of companies forming part of the Guptas-controlled Oakbay Group were suing Bank of Baroda.South Africa’s four biggest banks closed accounts linked to the Gupta family last year. The banks cited the need for compliance with international banking rules. Later, a court application by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan included a document from South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Center listing 72 reports of suspicious transactions totaling 6.8 billion rand ($520 million) that implicated members of the Gupta family and their companies, Bloomberg reported. The family has asked the court to dismiss Gordhan’s application, while their lawyer has said that none of the transactions were dubious.Atul started the family's first business in South Africa, Sahara Computers, in 1993. Today, the Gupta family's businesses in South Africa include coal mines, computers, newspapers and a news channel. Bongi Ngema-Zuma, one of President Zuma's wives, worked for the Gupta-controlled JIC Mining Services. Duduzile Zuma, his daughter, was a director at Sahara Computers. His son, Duduzane Zuma, was a director of a few Gupta-owned companies but stepped down last year after public furore.In 2013, the Gupta brothers ran into a controversy when a chartered plane carrying guests for the wedding of their sister's daughter landed at the Waterkloof Air Base near Pretoria. The base is reserved for visiting heads of state and diplomatic delegations.According to a newspaper report, the Guptas had even applied for diplomatic passports because they often travelled with Zuma on international trips promoting South Africa. The application was rejected, according to a report by The Sunday Times.The Gupta brothers rose dramatically from a humble business background in India. Their father Shiv Kumar Gupta ran a company at Saharanpur that distributed soapstone powder. His sons commuted to Delhi where they ran a company, SKG Marketing, which imported spices from Madagascar and Zanzibar. The Gupta brothers came to South Africa when the Apartheid was ending in early Nineties after exploring possibilities of a computer hardware business in China.Last year, the Gupta family announced they would quit their own company amid increasing calls for a probe into their alleged influence in government through their links with President Zuma. They had come under immense pressure after several high-ranking members of the ruling African National Congress, including the current Deputy Minister of Finance, claimed that the family had offered them government positions, including appointments as ministers. The Guptas denied these allegations, which have been termed as "state capture".A representative of the Gupta family responded after the article was published. According to the representative, no member of the family has ever offered any individual a job in the government or the Cabinet of South Africa. An investigation by the highest authority, the National Executive Committee of the ruling party, cleared the family of these charges. The Oakbay Group’s business with the government is only around 8.9% of its turnover, the representative says. The family has always maintained that they welcome a judicial inquiry into allegations of state capture.Calling the recent closure of accounts of a number of group companies by Bank of Baroda unlawful, the representative says the notice period given by the bank is unreasonable.Two days ago, a court dismissed former finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s petition for giving an order that the government cannot intervene between the group companies and four banks that had closed the accounts of the companies last year. It also awarded costs to the group.All necessary permissions were sought to land a large privately chartered aircraft at the Waterkloof Air Base in August 2013. Even though there was no fault of the family, it did apologise to people to respect their sentiments. Atul Gupta was a special advisor to a former president of Lesotho and was awarded a diplomatic passport in this capacity which was revoked when the advisory role was over.The family had announced they would sell off their shares in South Africa to save thousands of jobs. “Since our decision to step down from all executive and non-executive positions in all our South African business in April 2016, the local management team has grown our businesses from strength to strength,” the representative says.