In 2016, a series of allegations of the Guptas' influence over appointments to the South African

Cabinet came to the fore. Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor claimed that in 2010 the Guptas had
offered her the position of Minister of Public Enterprises, provided that she arranged for South
African Airways to drop their India route, allowing Gupta-linked Jet Airways to take the route.
[19][17] She said she declined the offer, which occurred at the Guptas' Saxonwold residence,
while President Zuma was in another room. This came a few days before a cabinet reshuffle in
which minister Barbara Hogan was dismissed by Zuma. The Gupta family denied that the
meeting took place and denied offering Vytijie a ministerial position.[56] President Zuma claimed
that he had no recollection of Vytjie Mentor.[57]

Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas confirmed media reports that he had been offered the
ministerial position by the Guptas shortly before the disastrous dismissal of Finance Minister
Nhlanhla Nene in December 2015, but had rejected the offer out of hand as "it makes a mockery
of our hard-earned democracy‚ the trust of our people and no one apart from the President of
the Republic appoints ministers".[18] The Gupta family denied offering Jonas the job of Finance
Minister.[58]

The Sunday Times has reported that the Minister of Mineral Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, and
then Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, David van Rooyen (who was
controversially appointed by President Zuma as Minister of Finance in December 2015) met with
members of the Gupta family in Dubai. Van Rooyen allegedly met with them only a few days
after his unsuccessful appointment to be Minister of Finance on 20 December 2015. Minister
Zwane assisted in the sale of a large coal mine to a Gupta owned company.[59]

Former bodyguards of the Gupta family have stated that they often saw important government
officials, such as Hlaudi Motsoeneng the COO of the state broadcaster the SABC, and large
amounts of money in cash moving out of the Gupta's Saxonwold estate. The bodyguards also
stated that Ajay Gupta would visit President Zuma up to three times a week until 2015 at the
presidential guest house in Pretoria. A spokesperson for president Zuma denies that the visits
ever happened.[60]

Ranjeni Munusamy of the Daily Maverick has stated the "Gupta family has effectively usurped
the function of the ANC deployment committee"[61] thereby undermining the party's ability to
independently and legitimately select senior ministers and executives in government and state
owned companies.[39][61]
Following a formal complaint submitted in March 2016 by a catholic priest, Father Stanslaus
Muyebe,[62] the Gupta's alleged influence became the subject of an investigation into "state
capture" by outgoing Public Protector Thuli Madonsela. President Zuma and Minister Des van
Rooyen applied for an interdict to prevent the publication of the report on 14 October 2016,
Madonsela's last day in office.[63] Van Rooyen's application was dismissed, and the President
withdrew his application, leading to the release of the report on 2 November. The report
recommends the establishment of a judicial commission of enquiry into the issues identified.[64]

The report recommends that a full probe of Mr. Zuma's dealings with the Guptas should be
conducted by a commission of inquiry, with the findings published within 180 days. Zuma and
Des van Rooyen have since denied any wrongdoing.[65]

The Gupta's lawyer disputed the evidence in the report.[37][66] The Gupta family have denied
any wrongdoing and welcomed the opportunity to challenge the report’s findings in an official
judiciary inquiry.[67][68]

On 25 November 2016, Zuma announced that the Presidency would be reviewing the contents
of the state capture report.[69] He said it "was done in a funny way" with "no fairness at all" and
argued he was not given enough time to respond to the public protector.[70]

In late May 2017 a number of emails were leaked to the public from the Guptas and their
associates implicating them in efforts to appoint government ministers and heads of government
owned companies in addition to coordinating activities with political figures associated with
President Zuma for their own personal gain. Most notable were efforts to appoint Gupta friendly
executives for Transnet, Eskom, the appointment of Mosebenzi Zwane as minister of mineral
resources.[20][71] The ANC Youth League and the pro-Gupta[72] political party Black First Land
First (BLF) disputed the authenticity of the emails whilst the Communist Party of South Africa
stated that the emails "look genuine".[73]

In January 2018, Ramaphosa announced that there would indeed be a Commission of Inquiry
into State Capture,[74] and this would be chaired by Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa
Raymond Zondo. Hearings began on 20 August 2018,[75] and are expected to last for two years.