South Africa plans new rules on ex-leaders' foreign trips after Zuma's visit to India

South Africa's foreign minister wants new rules and "more transparency" to apply to former heads of state undertaking foreign trips.

The recommendation to parliament follows a controversial visit to India last month by ex-President Jacob Zuma where he met one of the businessmen allegedly at the heart of a huge corruption scandal that played a role in bringing down his government.

The uproar over his meeting with Ajay Gupta prompted one minister to say that Zuma was showing the "middle finger" to South Africa .

Around a decade ago, the Gupta brothers were accused of profiting from their close links to then-President Zuma and influencing South African policy. Both parties denied wrongdoing.

The Gupta family left South Africa in 2018 after a judicial commission began investigating allegations they were involved in massive fraud, known as "state capture".

In 2022, the commission concluded that Zuma had hired and fired ministers central to the running of the country's economy at the behest of the Gupta family.

The South African authorities ended up cancelling their arrest warrant for Ajay Gupta. The two younger Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh, went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where a court in 2023 turned down a South African request to extradite them

Zuma has since been expelled from the African National Congress (ANC), the party he once led, and now heads the opposition uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK).