--- title: "New protocol for former presidents: Dirco aims to avoid Zuma-Gupta repeat" description: "Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola said former presidents and deputy presidents will need to provide full details of their future travel." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "DIPLOMATIC BUNGLE" author: "Peter Fabricius" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/peterfabricius/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-05-new-protocol-for-former-presidents-dirco-aims-to-avoid-zuma-gupta-repeat/" published: "2026-08-05T20:58:36" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 909 --- # New protocol for former presidents: Dirco aims to avoid Zuma-Gupta repeat > Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola said former presidents and deputy presidents will need to provide full details of their future travel. By Peter Fabricius · Published 5 August 2026, 22:58 SAST ## Key points - Dirco has proposed a new ‘framework for former presidents’ requiring full disclosure of travel purpose, programmes, funding, hosts and key engagements so protocol support can be assessed and reputational, diplomatic or security risks avoided. - The move was prompted by images of SA High Commissioner to India Anil Sooklal photographed with Jacob Zuma and State Capture-linked Ajay Gupta at a Haridwar temple on 26 June — a diplomatic embarrassment that saw Lamola recall Sooklal for consultations on 5 August and order an inquiry. - Dirco director‑general Zane Dangor says Sooklal had limited advance information — accepting an invitation from the swami and learning late that Zuma (and unexpectedly Gupta) would attend — and no formal discipline has been announced. - The protocol change is welcomed by opposition figures as ‘a step in the right direction’, but critics demand clarity on accountability and possible sanctions for officials who enabled the incident; Sooklal remains one of SA’s most senior diplomats. ## Content The government is taking steps to avoid a repetition of its recent embarrassment when South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, was photographed at an event in India with former president Jacob Zuma and State Capture-linked Ajay Gupta. The three appeared with Swami Kailashanand Giri at a prayer meeting at the Sidipeeth Shri Dakshin Kali Temple in Haridwar, on 26 June. The images of the trio together in the Indian media and then later in South African media greatly annoyed the government. Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola ordered an internal inquiry and Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said Sooklal’s appearance with Zuma and Gupta was a “disgrace” and that the “necessary steps” would be taken against him. ![peterfab-Gupta-precautions](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/Zb2PtUaR7BMjfOKXkbVbp9Xrs6w=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Screenshot-2026-07-01-195510-1_352764_325214.jpg) *Jacob Zuma (second from right), festooned in a garland in Sidipeeth Shri Dakshin Kali Temple in Haridwar, India, on 26 June 2026. On Zuma’s right is the temple’s Swami Kailashanand Giri and on Giri’s right is SA’s High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal – also with a garland. Ajay Gupta is second from left in the photo. (Image: X / @SachinGupta)* On Wednesday, 5 August 2026, Lamola announced at a press conference in Pretoria that Sooklal had been “recalled to the headquarters for further consultations”. Lamola said his department had also recommended to Parliament and the Presidency “a new framework for protocol and diplomatic support to former presidents and former deputy presidents during international travel”. ### Full travel details requirement pending This would include “a mandatory disclosure mechanism” requiring them to provide “full details of the purpose of travel, programmes, activities, sources of funding, principal hosts, key engagements, and the capacity in which they will be travelling to enable an informed assessment of the appropriate level of support required, and any associated reputational, political and diplomatic or security risks that may be involved. “This will help us avoid the 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.” [DIPLOMATIC ANNOYANCE Lamola orders probe after SA diplomat joins Zuma’s India reunion with fugitive Ajay Gupta July 2, 2026 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/4qc0u8i_NBTkOeEEDY8Ffq23I5c=/450x0/smart/file/attachments/orphans/Upscale_676921.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-02-lamola-orders-probe-after-sa-diplomat-joins-zumas-india-reunion-with-fugitive-ajay-gupta/) Journalists at the press conference asked whether Sooklal was to be disciplined and, if so, why, since it was made clear earlier that he had been instructed by Lamola’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) to provide the usual courtesies and support accorded to a former head of state on his visit to India. Dirco director-general Zane Dangor replied that the department had indeed known beforehand about Zuma’s visit, and so had Sooklal. “But what we don’t get is details about what the visit will be about. And that’s all the high commissioner \[Sooklal\] will also have known, is that there is a meeting and then he was subsequently invited to the same meeting. “And that's the subject of our discussions that we will be having with him. So it’s not about whether we knew or not. We always get a letter, and the letter is standard that indicates that we must provide protocol to any of the presidents that do travel. “But what we do ask for now is increased guidance and increased transparency about what these visits would be, to safeguard not only Dirco, but to safeguard the country’s national interests and reputation.” ![peterfab-Gupta-precautions](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/k4gJdMDlwBkRT4LDiU-yKAhZR6Q=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/ED_5474151_175198.jpg) *Dirco director-general Zane Dangor said South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, had limited information about former president Jacob Zuma’s controversial June visit. (Photo: Gallo Images / Alet Pretorius)* In other words, Dangor seemed to be saying that when he asked for assistance, Zuma had not informed Dirco or Sooklal that he would be attending the prayer meeting nor that Gupta would also attend. It is understood Sooklal told Dirco that he himself had accepted an invitation to the prayer meeting by Swami Kailashanand Giri – an influential person in India – some time before and only discovered the day before the event that Zuma would also attend. He had not known that Gupta would be at the prayer meeting until he got there. Gupta unexpectedly inserted himself into the picture with Sooklal, Zuma, Giri and others. [FLIPPING THE BIRD Ntshavheni says SA diplomat will face action for ‘hobnobbing’ with Zuma and Ajay Gupta July 3, 2026 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/toHroAnWEZutCfpgdGNMVySQdqQ=/450x0/smart/file/attachments/orphans/Tori-Zuma-hobnobscopy_834477.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-03-ntshavheni-says-sa-diplomat-will-face-action-for-hobnobbing-with-zuma-and-ajay-gupta/) Neither Dangor nor Lamola replied directly to journalists’ questions about whether Sooklal faced disciplinary action. But Daily Maverick understands that no charges have been brought against him and no disciplinary process instituted, so far at least. There appears to be an acceptance that Dirco headquarters should have requested Zuma’s itinerary when it was informed of Zuma’s visit. That acceptance seems to be implicit in Lamola’s announcement on Wednesday that Dirco has recommended a new procedure where former presidents and deputy presidents must provide more details of their visits when requesting Dirco’s support. Ryan Smith, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on International Relations and Cooperation, said Lamola’s announcement of a new protocol to regulate and manage visits by former heads of state “is a move in the right direction”, but said several questions remained unanswered, including what sanction, if any, Sooklal would face “for violating diplomatic protocol”. “If Dirco is complicit in Jacob Zuma’s flagrant and insulting international travel with the Guptas, there must be harsh consequences for those enabling it,” he said. Sooklal is one of South Africa’s most senior diplomats, having served as its BRICS sherpa, deputy director-general for the Middle East and Asia and ambassador to the European Union. **DM**