How To Steal A Country

The new film by Emmy-Award winning director Rehad Desai and co-directed by Mark Kaplan, 'How To Steal A Country' celebrates the role of journalists, whistle blowers and activists in defending democracy and holding those in power to account.

When a group of investigative journalists discover far-reaching corruption involving Jacob Zuma, then President of South Africa, a pernicious disinformation campaign is mounted against the integrity of the newsroom. Then one day the journalists receive the smoking gun - a huge data leak that lays bare the entire modus operandi behind the capture of the South African state by private individuals with the help of politicians.

Thanks to their good friend Zuma, members of the Indian Gupta family were able to use the proceeds of an entire nation for their own gain, acquiring holdings in coal mines, media and IT companies, and even government positions. When finally a Judicial Commission of Inquiry is installed, Zuma also comes to testify. His defense: it’s all lies and fake news.

In interviews, investigative journalists express their concerns about the global drift towards ever-increasing entanglement between business and government, and the polarization it brings: presidents and multinationals live unassailably in their own bubble. As a journalist, all you can do is make life in the bubble a little less comfortable. Is there still room for justice in South Africa’s hard-won fledgling democracy?