The Republic of Gupta: A Story of State Capture, by Pieter-Louis Myburgh

The Republic of Gupta: A Story of State Capture, by Pieter-Louis Myburgh. Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa. Imprint: Penguin Books. Cape Town, South Africa 2017. ISBN 9781776090891 / ISBN 978-1-77-609089-1

Preface to The Republic of Gupta: A Story of State Capture by Pieter-Louis Myburgh. When I learnt in the latter half of 2015 that the publishing of The Republic of Gupta would become a reality, I was filled with a great deal of excitement.

As a journalist, I had become well accustomed to the confines one's words are subjected to when writing for newspapers or even online platforms. Finally, I thought, here is an opportunity to let rip on the wonderfully expansive canvas that is a 300-page book. But soon, dark blots of trepidation began to mix with my excitement. What if the subject matter simply did not yield enough material to fill the pages? And were the Guptas really interesting enough to justify spending over a year researching and writing about them? Despite being plagued by apprehensions, I got on with the task. My progress, frankly, was not the result of some noble display of internal strength. It was deadline-related paranoia that whipped me to the finish line. Much has been said about what inspires people to write, but the procrastinating author knows the deadline to be his or her cruellest master and most effective motivator. And so it came to be that my earliest sentences grew into paragraphs, and paragraphs into chapters. As this book began to take shape, I realised that my initial fears over the subject matter were unfounded. In fact, it quickly became clear to me that there were more than enough issues pertaining to South Africa's most infamous business family that I could write about. This became particularly evident from March 2016 onwards, when the proverbial dam wall broke regarding the Guptas' influence over government affairs. The challenge, it seemed, would rather be deciding what to include and what to leave out. In this regard, The Republic of Gupta seeks to unpack the most important developments involving the family. It is not intended to be a blow-by-blow summary of every single news event featuring them and their business empire. Instead, I have accompanied my discussion of the more pertinent Gupta-related news events with an in-depth exploration of other issues that did not find their way onto the front pages of newspapers. By combining the two approaches, I hope to give readers a broad yet thorough account of who the Guptas really are. As I write this, the Guptas are very much a developing news story. New revelations and information about the family's doings have made their way into the press on an almost weekly basis since the start of 2016. This has made writing The Republic of Gupta somewhat tricky. I am well aware that relevant Gupta-related issues will surface after this book goes to print. Perhaps one day, when it appears that the Gupta saga has finally reached its conclusion, I might be tempted to write a sequel to the story. During the process of sourcing new information on the family, I met with several individuals whose identities cannot be disclosed. The use of unnamed sources in journalism is at once indispensable and problematic. On the one hand, people often have legitimate concerns over their personal safety when divulging sensitive information that has a bearing on the rich and powerful. It goes without saying that such sources need to be protected at all costs. On the other hand, the use of unnamed sources raises concerns over the credibility of the information they provide. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance to determine the veracity of such information before it is stated as fact. [...]

This is an excerpt from The Republic of Gupta: A Story of State Capture by Pieter-Louis Myburgh.

Title: The Republic of Gupta
Subtitle: A Story of State Capture
Author: Pieter-Louis Myburgh
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Imprint: Penguin Books
Cape Town, South Africa 2017
ISBN 9781776090891 / ISBN 978-1-77-609089-1
Softcover, 15 x 23 cm, 306 pages, several colour photographs