South African prosecutors have begun extradition talks with officials in the United Arab Emirates following the arrest of two fugitive brothers accused of colluding with former president Jacob Zuma to siphon off state funds.
The arrest of Atul and Rajesh Gupta in Dubai on Monday is being celebrated widely in South Africa where they stand accused of bribing Mr Zuma and dozens of other state officials to illegally secure lucrative government contracts. A third UAE-based brother, Ajay Gupta, is also sought by the South African authorities, but he was not among those detained by the Dubai authorities.
Dubai police have said they detained the two men “in connection with money laundering and criminal charges in South Africa” after receiving an Interpol “red notice” — which is a request to provisionally arrest a wanted person pending their extradition. But legal experts have warned it could be a long time before the pair stand trial for corruption in a South African court, as both men would likely go to extreme lengths to avoid their extradition from the UAE.
On Tuesday, South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed it was engaging with the relevant authorities in the UAE regarding the Gupta brothers’ arrest. But the NPA declined to go into detail about how their talks have progressed, as “extradition is a complex process involving many role players, including the executive”. South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, welcomed the arrests, saying it hoped they marked “the beginning of the prosecution of those who have – locally and abroad – looted our country for years”.
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Atul, Rajesh and Ajay Gupta fled South Africa in 2018 after a public sector corruption inquiry began looking into their involvement in tender fraud, money laundering and graft during Mr Zuma’s near decade-long presidency. A litany of corruption allegations was made against the men and their business associates by different whistleblowers during the nearly four years a judicial commission of inquiry heard evidence.
The businessmen, who arrived in South Africa from India in the early 1990s, are accused of using their close ties with Mr Zuma and his allies to influence cabinet appointments, illegally secure public sector contracts and launder billions of dollars in misappropriated funds.
The Guptas and Mr Zuma have often confirmed their close ties, and several of the former president’s children held positions in different companies they owned. However, they have always denied any wrongdoing in relation to the corruption allegations.
Nevertheless, the authors of the inquiry’s final report, which was released in April, found that Mr Zuma “would do anything that the Guptas wanted him to do for them”.
The alleged corruption involving Mr Zuma, his African National Congress allies and the Guptas have been a source of major infighting in the ruling party that has left it weakened and increasingly out of favour with voters.
