The Indian Gupta family – at the centre of allegations on state capture – first burst into the public spotlight when it was revealed in 2013 that a commercial plane carrying about 200 wedding guests landed at Waterkloof Airforce Base. The group was attending the wedding of Vega Gupta and Aakash Jahajgarhia at Sun City. As News24 recounts, the government subsequently launched a multi-department probe and several suspensions and arrests of officials. The scandal reached all the way to the top with President Jacob Zuma, a friend of the wealthy Indian family, accused of having given permission for the landing. He denied the claim. In January 2015 charges against two SANDF officers accused of involvement were withdrawn, one of whom was Lieutenant Colonel Christine Anderson. She claimed to have SMSes linking President Zuma to the controversy, notes News24. Former chief of state protocol Bruce Koloane ended up being the biggest fall guy. He pleaded guilty to all charges relating to his involvement. Koloane was demoted but later got a diplomatic post to a key European position. In this exposé by a BizNews community member, it can be revealed that the investigators have also subsequently rewarded with top jobs. – Jackie Cameron

By Roald Bartholomew*

Has President Jacob Zuma hoped everyone has forgotten about the Gupta plane landing at Waterkoof airbase? Where are the players now?

Let’s take a look at the people who wrote the report that exonerated Zuma, who was never interrogated about his version of events.

It seems the authors of the report on the investigation on the Gupta plane landing have gone from strength to strength.

The first man on the list DT Dlomo, a career spook. Acting Director-General of the State Security Agency at the investigation, Dlomo now has a cosy job as South Africa’s Ambassador in Algeria.

The next person on the list is Nonkululeko Sindane. She has since resigned from the justice ministry and become CEO at UWP Consulting. This is a majority black-owned company that thrives on state business. When announcing Sindane’s appointment in May, UWP noted: “Her experience within the public infrastructure sector from where UWP Consulting procures the majority of its work will be invaluable to the company going forward.”

Tom Moyane, also on the list, is a man firmly in Zuma’s corner. Former National Commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services, Moyane is now the South African Revenue Service commissioner.

It appears that since Zuma-friendly SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane was appointed (and 55 top executives ejected) the relationship between the tax collector and law-abiding businesses which fund the national coffers has turned hostile (read Is Moyane’s SARS deliberately sabotaging SA businesses?). The Mail & Guardian reports that Moyane’s nephew has scored a plum debt collection contract, possibly worth R220m, from SARS.

The SARS has denied that Moyane played a role in an investigation by the controversial Hawks squad into finance minister Pravin Gordhan. Moyane may have contravened the Financial Intelligence Centre Act when he tipped off right-hand person Jonas Makwakwa that a suspicious deposit of about R1,2m in his personal bank account was being investigated. Makwakwa was suspended after Gordhan demanded answers from Moyane.

Clinton Swemmer is a mystery. He works at the co-ordinating structure of South Africa’s intelligence operations, NICOC.

Finally, the man who took the bullet for Number 1, Vusi Bruce Koloane. He has been deployed as Ambassador in the Netherlands.

It is surreal how that plane at Waterkloof has woven such a large amount of conflict into the fabric of South Africa.

Roald Bartholomew is a pseudonym. The writer’s identity is known to the BizNews editor-in-chief.

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