#GuptaEmails: Tony Gupta allegedly called Saxonwold security guards 'monkeys'
1 June 2017
Johannesburg - In 2012, Tony "Rajesh" Gupta allegedly called security guards at his Saxonwold house "monkeys" after they did not respond when he called out to them.
The alleged racist incident was written down in a complaint to G4S Security, about one of their security guards, by a Sahara employee. The letter of complaint forms part of hundreds of leaked Gupta emails obtained by City Press.
The guard, according to the letter, was appointed as an armed officer at the gate for access control duties. However, he always wanted to be a driver.
"He was found to be not competent as a driver, by his own manager," the email said.
The email said that, one night, the guard was "engrossed in some other activity" and he, along with another guard on duty, did not hear Tony Gupta calling them repeatedly.
The letter said that Gupta wanted to inform the guards at the gate that a guest would be arriving.
"The incident aggravated Mr Tony so much that he called them monkeys," the letter said.
Previous accusations
It went on to say that one guard had been the cause of this incident, since he was so focused on a discussion that he distracted the other guard from his work, and that neither of them reacted when Gupta called them.
"Now the G4S night shift feels negative. But if... [the guard] was concentrating on his duties, knowing there was a function going on, this would not have happened," the email continued.
It went on to say that the guard did not follow instructions.
Another incident was mentioned in which the guard was told over the intercom that he had to sit facing the camera placed in the guard room at all times.
"Yet at 04:30 Thursday morning when I told him that he must face the camera, as per Mr Atul's [Gupta's] orders, his only answer was that it is morning and that he will not sleep now."
G4S responded by saying they were scheduling the guard for customer services training and that disciplinary action would be taken if his behaviour did not improve.
It is not the first time that accusations of bad treatment toward staff by the Guptas have emerged.
In April 2016, the Mail & Guardian reported that the security guards at the Gupta home had seen bags bulging with cash being transported, and numerous visits by the president.
Sexual assault, racism
The paper reported that the guards sometimes worked 18-hour shifts in a highly pressurised environment where the Guptas would fire them on the spot if they got upset.
They said, however, that Ajay was always kind and that he would reprimand his son Kamal when he shouted at them.
In 2013, during the Gupta wedding at Sun City, the Sunday Times reported that hotel staff were not happy with the treatment by the guests, and that they had marched through the resort chanting "down with the Guptas".
There were allegations of sexual assault, racism, while the Guptas reportedly brought their own staff who took over the kitchens and the front desk.
Gupta lawyer Gert van der Merwe has slammed the accusations contained in the leaked emails and said the Guptas had been advised to lay criminal charges against the media houses reporting on them.
G4S requested that a query be emailed to them and had not yet responded at the time of publication.
