Gangster State

influence his family wielded within the ruling party and within Zuma’s
government. The Guptas donated a lot of money to the ANC, he said,
including generous donations to the party’s coffers in the Free State.
In fact, the Guptas could ‘invest’ R 400 million in a plan to bring
Bloemfontein’s decommissioned coal-fired power station back to life.
Some of this money could then be channelled towards the ruling party
for the upcoming elections, Atul said.
Their host’s swagger swelled as he continued to talk. ‘If we call any
cabinet minister right now, he or she will be here in an hour,’ he
boasted.
Then came one of the not-so-subtle threats that the Guptas would later
become notorious for issuing during such conversations. ‘We have files
on cabinet ministers and other politicians in the basement,’ Atul told
Manyoni.
The implication of this remark was not lost on the mayor. Government
officials who refused to work with the powerful family would be dealt
with by having their darkest secrets revealed to the world. All Manyoni
had to do was ‘work with them’ once he became premier, Atul said.
One of the projects in the metro that the Guptas had their eyes on was
the R 11 -billion business and residential node that was going up near
Bloemfontein’s airport, Manyoni was told.^4
The family also desired more advertising revenue from Free State
government departments and municipalities for their newspaper, The
New Age. When Manyoni told him that these entities did not really
have big advertising budgets, Atul responded: ‘It isn’t really about the
money, it is about power.’
Magashule chipped in now and then in an effort to persuade Manyoni
to warm up to their host. It must have been obvious to him and Atul