The South African envoy to India, Anil Sooklal, has been “recalled for consultations” by the South African government over his association with former president Jacob Zuma and controversial Indian-origin South African businessman Ajay Gupta.Sooklal, an Indian-origin South African diplomat, was the country’s G20 sherpa, as well as the BRICS Sherpa, before he was appointed as the High Commissioner to India.When contacted, Sooklal told The Indian Express that it was a “formality” and there were “no issues of concern.” He said that he will be back in Delhi after two days.When Zuma visited India in his private capacity in June this year, he had gone to Haridwar where he was photographed with South African envoy Sooklal and businessman Gupta.The trio were spotted together at the Sidhpeeth Shri Dakshin Kali Mandir in Haridwar during a religious ceremony.South Africa’s International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said on Wednesday that the government has recalled Sooklal for “consultations”. The minister also announced that the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has proposed stricter rules governing diplomatic support for former presidents travelling abroad.About a decade ago, the Gupta brothers were accused of profiting from their close ties to the then President Zuma. The Gupta family left South Africa in 2018 after a judicial commission began investigating allegations that they were involved in a massive fraud known as “state capture”.Story continues below this adIn 2022, the commission concluded that Zuma had hired and fired ministers at the behest of the Gupta family, which included the two younger Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh.Zuma has since been expelled from the African National Congress (ANC), the party he once led, and now heads the opposition uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), or ‘Spear of the Nation’.On the current situation, Lamola said, “We have also submitted recommendations to Parliament and the presidency to consider a new framework for protocol and diplomatic support to former presidents and deputy presidents during international travels.”Under the proposed framework, the presidency and DIRCO have established a mandatory disclosure mechanism requiring former presidents and deputy presidents seeking protocol and diplomatic assistance to provide full details of their travel plans.Story continues below this adThis includes the purpose of the trip, planned activities, sources of funding, key engagements and the capacity in which they will be travelling.Lamola said the measures were aimed at preventing former leaders from creating the impression that they represent South Africa’s foreign policy.“This will help us avoid a situation where former presidents portray themselves as also representing South Africa’s foreign policy, particularly when they have not been mandated by the sitting head of state,” Lamola said.Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 27 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting and writing explainers and analysis on foreign affairs for about 19 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He won the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award, 2023, for the second time for his reporting of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More Tags:South Africa