Lavish homes left by fleeing Guptas up for sale in South Africa

South Africa is selling off three multimillion rand mansions owned by the Gupta brothers, a trio of influential Indian-born businessmen at the center of a corruption scandal that triggered the country’s worst political and economic crisis since the end of Apartheid.

Atul, Rajesh and Ajay Gupta began buying the properties in Thursday’s auction in 2006. There, in Saxonwold, one of Johannesburg’s oldest and most affluent neighborhoods, they entertained top politicians and businessmen for at least a decade.

But as their public profile grew, so did allegations that they exerted undue influence over the state for their own enrichment. Protesters gathered regularly outside the compound’s high walls and perimeter fences, demanding accountability.

The brothers fled to Dubai shortly before the ruling African National Congress in 2018 forced Jacob Zuma to quit as president to stem a loss in electoral support, partly due to his links to the family.

Their compound has been largely empty ever since. Protected by private armed guards, it became a symbol among opposition members and activists of the staggering levels of corruption in the country, and the challenges in holding those implicated in that corruption to account.


President Cyril Ramaphosa has estimated that more than 500 billion rand ($28 billion) was plundered during his predecessor’s near nine-year tenure and said that tackling graft — which has hobbled key institutions such as state power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and freight rail and ports operator Transnet SOC Ltd — is a priority. But to date, no senior official has been successfully prosecuted in connection to it.


During a Saturday viewing of the compound organized by the auction house, Park Village Auctions, traces of the lavish lifestyle the brothers led in Africa’s richest city were on display: a Cartier jewelry catalog, a Royal Caribbean cruise brochure and a hand-written inventory of fine whiskeys and champagne.

Elsewhere green water fills an indoor pool, and moss grows on water features and a mini cricket pitch. Deep cracks run through window panes. Paint and plaster are peeling off walls. And the thatched roof of an outdoor bar is in tatters.

The neglect means that although the three properties — which have different title deeds and will be auctioned separately — have a combined municipal value of about 64 million rand, they’re likely to sell at a “bargain price,” according to auctioneer Clive Lazarus. Individual residences in the neighborhood can sell for as much as 20 million rand, he said.

Proceeds from the sale will help settle claims by creditors since Confident Concept Pty Ltd., the Gupta-linked company that owns the properties, entered into a local form of bankruptcy protection in 2018. The auction had been held up because it was in litigation over financial distress and disputes about property development with local authorities.

The compound’s role as the epicenter in what became known as “state capture” was highlighted during a probe led by former chief justice Raymond Zondo, which began in 2018 and implicated more than 1,400 persons and entities. His panel heard that the brothers held clandestine meetings in their homes, where many people were offered kickbacks to help the family and their associates influence government decision making and secure contracts.

The Guptas and Zuma have denied any wrongdoing.

Atul was the first of the brothers to arrive from India in South Africa in 1993, just as the country was transitioning to democracy. Dispatched to the continent in search of fortune by his father, a trader of spices and soapstone powders, he founded Sahara Computers Ltd., a year later. The company, an importer and distributor of Windows PCs, grew and his brothers joined him. A single introduction to a member of the new political elite paved the way for the Guptas to mingle in powerful circles.

During the viewing of the mansions, a safe that appeared to be forced open, boxes of prescription medicine, as well as spices and cupboards piled high with dinnerware suggested the Guptas left South Africa in haste.



Atul and Rajesh — who are wanted in South Africa on charges including money laundering and fraud, and sanctioned by both the US and UK government — were arrested in United Arab Emirates in 2022. That’s after Interpol placed them on its most-wanted list. But a UAE court, in 2023, denied South Africa’s plea to extradite the brothers and their arrest warrant was canceled. South Africa provisionally withdrew its arrest warrant for Ajay in 2019, according to Reuters.

Spokespersons for the President and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development referred questions, including about plans to extradite the fugitive brothers and prosecute others implicated in graft, to the National Prosecuting Authority. The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, a unit of the National Prosecuting Authority, declined to answer questions.

A fourth property in the compound still bears a ‘SAHARA ESTATE’ sign on the outer wall but it is not up for auction this week. It’s registered to a separate company linked to the family, according to Deeds Office data.

The three mansions in the auction are zoned for residential use. Should the new owners want to use them for something else, they’d have to apply for permits, which aren’t guaranteed to be approved.

For Lumkile Mondi, a senior economics lecturer at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand, the auction is an important step but challenges lie ahead.

“The reality is that when corruption, fraud, and destruction happens, it doesn’t only take place the top, it filters down to other levels,” he said. “For many South Africans, the biggest impact has been on the supply of water, electricity and fixing of roads. To change that requires serious commitment and it’s going to take a long, long time before we get things right.”