Riyaz Patel
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Shamila Batohi will form part of a delegation travelling to Abu Dhabi to persuade the United Emirates to extradite the controversial Gupta brothers.
Lamola along with Minister of Public Service and Administration, Senzo Mchunu will lead the delegation in talks with the UAE government in an attempt to have the Gupta family repatriated, according to a Sunday Times report.
The ministers will reportedly be joined by Batohi, the head of the NPA’s investigative directorate, Hermione Cronje, head of the Special Investigating Unit, Andy Mothibi and Robert McBride – who is the Head of ethics at the Department of Public Administration.
The newspaper reported that the South Africa delegation will officially be in Abu Dhabi to attend a UN convention against corruption, but said there were plans to hold meetings with the UAE government on the sidelines.
These meetings aim to have the UAE sign off on the extradition of the Guptas to South Africa, so that they can be held accountable for the looting of billions of rands in public funds, the newspaper reported.
Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Piri would not confirm whether meetings had been planned with UAE officials in relation to the Guptas but did say that a media briefing would be held on Monday to update the public on important developments.
Lamola had asked the UAE to finalise the ratification of treaties, mutual legal assistance and extradition, earlier this year.
This followed sanctions against the Gupta family and their associate Salim Essa by the US Treasury.
In a statement, the US Department of State said the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had “designated Ajay Gupta, Atul Gupta, Rajesh Gupta, and Salim Essa for their involvement in corruption in South Africa pursuant to executive order 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.”
Lamola revealed that seven countries have been approached for mutual legal assistance in an attempt to have the Guptas extradited to face state capture allegations, following the announcement by the US government,
The countries approached were India, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Switzerland, Mauritius, Hong Kong, the US and China.
South Africa’s former Justice Minister Michael Masutha and his UAE counterpart, Sultan Saeed Al Badi, signed the treaties on “extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters” on on 27 September 2018 in Dubai.
“The treaties will enable the two countries to assist each other in the investigation and prosecution of crimes through mutual legal assistance and the extradition of fugitives,” a joint statement said following the signing.
