A woman renting one of the Guptas' properties was given a rude awakening on Wednesday morning when The Hawks arrived at the property with rifles. The woman, according to TimesLive, did not know that she was leasing the property from a Gupta associate.
The home is reportedly on the corner of Kings and Van Buuren roads in Bedfordview, Johannesburg. The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, told TimesLive that the estate agent did not tell her who the house belonged to.
It is reportedly owned by Ashok Narayan, a former managing director of the Guptas' Sahara Systems.
The woman living there reportedly said the Hawks arrived in the early hours of Wednesday morning looking for the Guptas. The woman told the police that they did not live there and showed them her lease agreement.
She found out that the Guptas were linked to the house after she reported some problems with it to the estate agent.
"Then Indians came [to the house]. Out of curiosity, I asked where their offices are. These guys said‚ 'Sahara'. I made the connection. Then I asked them if they meant the house belonged to the Guptas.
"Wow‚ how of all the houses would I end up in this controversy? But at that time it wasn't as bad as it is now. So I let it ride‚" she told TimesLive.
She said she wished she had known about the Gupta connection before she moved in.
Now all eyes are on me. I mean‚ Bedfordview has its own dynamics. You are the only black person on the street and all of a sudden there are Hawks‚ not just police‚ at your door. Then the police next door drove into my yard and started asking‚ 'Who are you? What's going on?'" she said.
The Hawks raided several Gupta properties on Wednesday morning. Five people are expected to appear in court in Bloemfontein on Wednesday in connection with the Vrede dairy farm scandal, in which money intended for an emerging black farmers' project was allegedly syphoned off to Gupta offshore accounts.