Scandal-tainted Gupta homes in posh locale sell at 46% discount

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Scandal-tainted Gupta homes in posh locale sell at 46% discount

9:12 CAT | 13 Aug 2025

Image: Bloomberg

South Africa sold three multimillion-rand mansions tied to the corruption-tainted Gupta brothers for about 46% below their municipal value.

The properties fetched about R34.5 million ($1.9 million), including commissions and taxes, Park Village Auctions said Tuesday. They have separate title deeds, are in a state of disrepair, and have a combined municipal value of about R64 million.

The homes in Saxonwold, one of Johannesburg’s oldest and most affluent neighbourhoods, once belonged to Atul, Rajesh and Ajay Gupta, influential India-born businessmen accused of orchestrating a vast corruption network that triggered the country’s worst political and economic crisis since the end of apartheid.

The private sale followed a public auction of the properties — featuring an indoor pool, mini cricket pitch and beauty parlour — that failed to attract much interest last month, when auctioneers provisionally accepted only one bid for the smallest home. Proceeds from the sale will help settle claims by creditors after Confident Concept, the Gupta-linked company that owned the properties, entered bankruptcy protection in 2018.

The Guptas began buying the properties about two decades ago and entertained top politicians and businessmen there for at least a decade. The compound’s role as the epicentre of a scandal known locally as “state capture” was detailed during a probe led by former chief justice Raymond Zondo, which began in 2018 and implicated more than 1 400 people and entities. The panel heard that the brothers held clandestine meetings in the homes, where many guests were offered kickbacks to help the family and their associates influence government decisions and secure contracts.

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

Atul and Rajesh — wanted in South Africa on charges including money laundering and fraud, and sanctioned by both the US and UK governments — were arrested in the United Arab Emirates in 2022 after Interpol placed them on its most-wanted list. In 2023, a UAE court denied South Africa’s extradition request, and the arrest warrant was cancelled. South Africa provisionally withdrew its arrest warrant for Ajay in 2019.

Source: Bloomberg