Minister of Home Affairs Dr Aaron Motsoaledi says the two Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh, are still South African citizens. Motsoaledi also says they are in possession of South African documents.
A court in the United Arab Emirates has dismissed the request for the two to be extradited to South Africa to face the law in relation to allegations of fraud, corruption and money laundering.
Motsoaledi says the relevant government departments will have to look at the issue of their citizenship.
“As the law stands they are South African citizens who deserve a passport. You will remember that there is a section in the constitution, just one small line that says no citizen can be deprived their citizenship. In fact, when they went to court they were using that part of the constitution. So they are still citizens. The only reason that we refused was when he was taking a new passport because that one was about to expire and our defence in court was that this person is a fugitive he can no longer enjoy the benefits other citizens enjoy without accounting to the citizens of the county and the judge agreed with us.”
SA govt scrambles to bring Gupta brothers to book:
