The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused Justice Minister Ronald Lamola of gross dereliction of duty after it emerged that the Gupta extradition hearing in the United Arab Emirates was unsuccessful and that the ruling took place almost two months ago.
The official opposition says it has been trying over the months to get answers from the Justice Ministry as well as the NPA regarding the Gupta extradition process.
The Guptas are considered key players in state capture.
The DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach says the saga is a national embarrassment and shows that former President Jacob Zuma’s tentacles are very alive and well in the current cabinet and government.
“The DoJ was, by all accounts, only informed of this monumental failure on 6 April. This begs the question of what exactly the Criminal Justice Cluster has been doing for the past year. Each query has been met with platitudes and hollow assurances that everything was under control. Clearly, this is far from the truth. The question now stands, whether there was ever serious intention to successfully extradite these perpetrators, bearing in mind the consequences it would have ensued for so many highly placed ANC members. This is a massive failure on the part of both institutions and a serious blow to holding the perpetrators of State Capture accountable.”
Meanwhile, the DA says it will be writing to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Justice, requesting an urgent meeting with the Justice Department and the NPA so that they can account for the failure of the Gupta extradition process in the United Arab Emirates.
The DA says it now has serious questions about whether the ANC led government ever had serious intentions of having the Guptas who are considered key players in state capture extradited to South Africa.
Former President Jacob Zuma had described the Guptas as friends of his.
Gupta brothers’ extradition from UAE failed in February 2023:
