(Archive photo: Mahesh Salunke/Pixabay)
Action SA has welcomed the government’s decision to appeal against a decision by a Dubai court not to extradite the Gupta brothers Atul and Rajesh to South Africa. However, the party says the decision is an indication of the declining international prestige that South Africa enjoys.
Ronald Lamola, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, said on Friday announced that the extradition application to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was rejected. The Dubai court already made this decision early in February, but according to Lamola, South Africa was only informed about it a day ago.
“This supports ActionSA’s view that South Africa has lost the respect of the international community,” says Herman Mashaba, president of ActionSA.
“It is extremely worrying that South African diplomats in the UAE – who are paid to promote the country’s interests – have failed to follow the court proceedings, speak to their UAE counterparts and keep the South African government informed to keep.”
He says Lamola and his colleague at international relations, Naledi Pandor, have difficult questions to answer about this.
According to Mashaba, South Africa and the ANC’s conflicting policies on international relations are contributing factors to the UAE’s failure to deal with the issue with the seriousness it deserves.
The party also still wants to know how the ANC-led government allowed, and possibly helped, the Gupta family to leave South Africa when allegations about their involvement in state capture initially came to light.
Ronald Lamola, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services. (Photo: GCIS)
“The two Guptas are involved in crimes that have cost the South African government more than R250 billion and even billions more in lost economic growth and job losses.”
The DA has the UAE’s decision earlier than a national one embarrassment designated for South Africa.
South Africa submitted the application for extradition in July last year after the two were arrested in Dubai a month earlier. The arrest follows an extradition agreement between South Africa and the UAE.
Lamola said on Friday that Denmark had recently successfully submitted a similar application.
He says South Africa will also continue discussions to find ways to improve levels of cooperation so that the integrity of bilateral relations can be preserved.
