GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
4 May 2023
Speaker of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has acceded to a request from GOOD Party MP Brett Herron to schedule an urgent debate on the failed extradition of persons implicated in corruption.
Responding yesterday to Herron’s request – submitted on 11 April 2023, a few days after South Africans were informed that the United Arab Emirates had rejected South Africa’s request to surrender Atul and Rajesh Gupta to stand trial for state capture – Mapisa-Nqakula said she agreed that the subject was important and of public interest.
The subject of the debate proposed by Herron is: “The failure of the Government to extradite persons implicated in corruption, as demonstrated by the recent case in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the consequences thereof.”
According to Mapisa-Nqakula, the subject complies with the criteria set out in National Assembly Rule 130, and the Programme Committee will be requested to schedule the debate.
The extradition of the so-called Gupta brothers was of significant legal, moral, political and emotional importance for South Africa.
The country invested nearly R1 billion in the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into state capture, and citizens invested massive trust and hope that the process would lead to prosecutions and justice.
The Guptas were allegedly leading beneficiaries of State Capture, and were repeatedly implicated in the report of the Zondo Commission.
South Africans deserve to know what went wrong and who should be held accountable for government’s extradition failures.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za