The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) Chairperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, has called on government to take proactive steps to reach out to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to gain further information on the Gupta family.
It follows Friday’s announcement by the Justice Minister, Ronald Lamola, that the UAE had denied South Africa’s extradition request for Rajesh and Atul Gupta.
Gupta Brothers I Justice Minister says SA will continue to engage UAE regarding extradition:
The brothers were understood to have been in custody in a Dubai prison following last year’s high-profile arrest. However, reports have emerged that the brothers were spotted in Switzerland late last month.
Gupta family members and associates are accused of fraudulent activities and state capture corruption.
Hlengwa explains, “What is important now is proactive steps, some of them which require diplomatic boldness on the part of SA. That would be a vindicating moment for the SA government. Until then, nothing they do or say or these excuses or saying we are disappointed, it doesn’t help us. We have the Gupta brothers who are a key component of corruption in SA and the SA government has been sleeping at the wheel.”
