The NPA has assured the public it is working speedily to submit an extradition request for the Gupta brothers, Atul (pictured) and Rajesh. Photo: AFP
The NPA has assured the public it is working speedily to submit an extradition request for the Gupta brothers, Atul (pictured) and Rajesh. Photo: AFP
The wheels of justice may have started turning in the Gupta extradition case – but has South Africa hit its first speedbump? It has been revealed on Thursday that the process has ‘stalled’, due to a language barrier.
After orchestrating the state capture operation in South Africa, the Gupta brothers escaped to the UAE in 2018. They set-up shop in Dubai, hoping to ride out the storm they had created on our shores. It took four years, but earlier this month, SA’s extradition request was formally submitted.
Several government departments – including DIRCO and the Justice Ministry – have been working hard to get the Indian billionaires back here to face the music. But a failure to translate the documents from English to Arabic has now delayed the proceedings.
Glynnis Breytenbach is Mzansi’s Shadow Minister for Justice. She has confirmed that the DA will reach out to their ANC counterparts, asking them to prioritise this translation. With our window of opportunity now ‘halfway closed’, time is very much of the essence.
“The DA will write to the Ministers of Justice, Ronald Lamola, and International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, to ask that the translation of the official extradition request of the Guptas into Arabic be done as a matter of urgency.”
“We urge the Justice Department and DIRCO to facilitate the translating of the official documentation without further delay, as a failure to do so could result in the derailment of the Gupta extradition. The crimes they are accused of are certainly not trivial”
Glynnis Breytenbach