GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
12 June 2023
Parliament will tomorrow debate an Urgent Matter of National Public Importance introduced by Brett Herron MP on behalf of the GOOD Party.
The debate was requested two months ago, immediately after South Africans learned that the application to extradite the Gupta brothers from the UAE had failed.
The subject of the debate is: 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.
Parliament’s lack of urgency in scheduling tomorrow’s debate regrettably mirrors the rest of the State’s lack of urgency in dealing decisively with corruption, among many other matters.
For nearly five years we’ve been regularly reassured that our law-enforcement agencies responsible for investigations and prosecutions are turning the corner, strengthening their capacity, re-building their integrity.
But when confronted with the opportunity to lay their hands on the family that South Africa’s R1 Billion State Capture Commission fingered as being at the centre of the web of corruption, we managed to blow our lines and lose on a technicality.
Extradition applications are seldom simple. Ours failed because it lacked meticulousness, betraying a deeper lack of urgency.
While waiting for this debate we have learned of a joint task team set up by the Minister of Justice and his UAE counterpart, with a view to launching a fresh extradition process.
The proverbial horse has bolted, however, and is unlikely to expose itself to the risk of returning to the UAE.
Besides details of the State to State engagement, or non-engagement, behind the scenes, we’d like to know from the Minister of Justice whether we consulted the right people in the UAE, with the necessary expertise and knowledge of the UAE system of justice.
If we made a technical mistake, surely this would have been picked up and addressed had we been taking advice from people of high competence.
We’d also like to know about the extradition of corruption fugitive, Michael Lomas, who has been implicated in a R745 million fraud and corruption case at the heart of the Kusile Power Station failures.
Will he be extradited to stand trial or will we justice be denied because our prisons are regarded as too dangerous or unfit by the UK Home Secretary? Will that be the next “technical” setback? The next can of worms?
Finally, there are many prosecutions we could be seeing arising out of the State Capture Commission that do not require extradition, which would begin to satisfy our need to see some consequences for the looting and derailment of our developmental state.
There’s been lots of time for talking; why are we seeing so little action?
The responses we’d like to hear from the Minister go beyond languid reassurances to actual urgency and progress.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 082 518 3264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 073 367 1223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za