President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent out a strong warning that the law will take its course against those who are implicated in State Capture.
Speaking to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit, he said the Justice Department was dealing with the matter of extraditing those who were outside the country in an attempt to evade the law.
The department has been working hard to bring the Guptas to South Africa to answer to allegations levelled against two of their family members.
“The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs is dealing with this matter and he engages with a number of those countries on an ongoing basis and I have kind of left it to him to keep updating me and the cabinet, so that is an ongoing process. These things tend to take their own time and people are somewhat impatient, but the law has its own way of grinding away very slowly and we must allow that to happen.”
President @CyrilRamaphosa during plenary session at Russia-Africa Summit. The participation of SA at this summit is in line with South African Foreign Policy pillar of encouraging South-North Cooperation in various technical fields and promoting economic development. pic.twitter.com/QDLA1NVfWb
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) October 24, 2019
In the same interview, Ramaphosa says nuclear energy is on the agenda of the summit, which is being attended by 47 African leaders.
On the eve of the summit, Rwandan officials approved a deal with Russia to advance the use of nuclear energy.
President Ramaphosa says it is also in the pipeline in South Africa.
“We’ve met with President Putin a few times and each time the issue of nuclear comes up and we’ve always been consistent in our answer that nuclear is a part of the repertoire of the energy mix that we are going to have as a country. As it is, we have nuclear in Koeberg. We’ve said to them very clearly that we will be able to embark on it at a time, at a pace and at a cost that we can afford.”
Last week, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said there were plans to add two small nuclear plants to the energy mix. He outlined the contents of the long-awaited Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).
Mantashe said the IRP 2019 would provide for the extension of the design life of Koeberg as well as the construction of additional new nuclear capacity in the future. Cabinet has approved the promulgation of the plan, which provides a blueprint for the envisaged energy mix for the country until 2030.
There is interest in the role nuclear and coal-sourced energy will play in the plan.
Watch interview below:
