Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

2-minute read
08 August 2023 | 16:05 CAT

Iqbal Sharma, Seipati Dhlamini, Limakatso Moorosi and Peter Thabethe in the Free State High Court. Photo by Gallo Images/Volksblad/Mlungusi Louw

The chances that the Gupta brothers may be able to avoid extradition to South Africa look very good after the Bloemfontein high court last week dismissed the NPA’s application for leave to appeal the judgment that saw the acquittal of the accused in the Nulane State Capture case.

The NPA’s Investigative Directorate attempted to save the case, the first to stem from the State Capture investigations, after acting Judge Nompulelo Gusha in April ruled that most of the documentary evidence submitted by the State in the Nulane’s R24.9m fraud and money-laundering case was inadmissible due to poor handling. This led to the acquittal of the accused in the case, which the court described as a “comedy of errors”.

“It is increasingly clear that promises from the State that those responsible for state capture will be held to account are hollow. The NPA is yet to demonstrate that it has been successfully recapacitated, and the State’s inability to successfully extradite the Guptas has placed further doubt on the government’s ability to bring all who are responsible for State Capture to account,” states Glynnis Breytenbach, DA Shadow Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development

The DA is in the final stages of preparing an Anti-Corruption Commission Bill, which will seek to establish a new Chapter 9 institution tasked with combating high-level corruption. The urgency of this Bill is now pronounced, given the complete lack of consequences for obvious high-level corruption within the government, as per the DA.

“Ordinary South Africans deserve to see justice served upon those responsible for State Capture.”

Listen to the full interview on Sabahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat: