One of the ways for criminal suspects with means to escape consequences for their actions is to skip the country, knowing full well that efforts to bring them back to face the music could easily be frustrated by technicalities.
South Africa has seen a number of these cases where it battles to extradite fugitives from justice.
Notable among those is the case of the Gupta brothers, who fled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from South Africa in 2018 as they were were about to be charged with fraud, corruption and money laundering.
The South African ministry of justice with shock and dismay said in April 2023 that the extradition hearing for Atul Kumar Gupta and Rajesh Kumar Gupta had been concluded in the Dubai court on February 13 that year and its extradition request was unsuccessful.
Here’s hoping the extradition of the two suspects from Eswatini will not delay the murder trial of AKA and Motsoane
South African authorities indicated they intended to appeal that judgment, but nothing has been heard from the UAE since.
Justice minister Ronald Lamola told parliament in November last year that despite several meetings and repeated attempts to get a response from the UAE central authority on extradition request, there has been no response. However, sight should not be lost, Lamola explained, as extradition in any country is a complex issue that involves diplomatic and political processes.
Another extradition case that has taken a relatively long time to resolve is that of fugitives Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary Bushiri. The couple, who faced fraud and money laundering charges, escaped to his home country Malawi after being granted bail on November 4 2020.
It has been three years since request for his extradition was submitted to Malawi for consideration. However, Bushiri and his army of lawyers have argued a number of preliminary points, one of which was that South Africa could not rely on the Sadc Protocol on Extradition as it has not been domesticated in accordance with Malawi’s constitution.
After the court dismissed that application, Bushiri’s lawyers argued the witnesses who would testify against Bushiri in South Africa should travel to Malawi to give evidence during the extradition proceedings.
After a number of court rulings, it is only this week that the extradition hearing is being heard.
There seems to be uncertainty about how far South African authorities have gone in the extradition from Eswatini of two suspects wanted in connection with the murder of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend Tebello "Tibz" Motsoane last year.
The process, which could be lengthy, might mean the trial of the five who are in custody for the murders could be delayed. However, hope should not be lost because extradition processes are lengthy and need all the necessary paperwork and lawyers to argue the applications.
South Africa has shown it can successfully submit requests for extradition in courts where it has extradition agreements with those countries.
Ten years ago, South Africa succeeded in its battle to extradite Shrien Dewani from the UK to face charges that he murdered his wife Anni while on their honeymoon in Cape Town in November 2010. Despite his extradition to South Africa in January 2014, he was acquitted by the Western Cape High Court in December 2014.
In August last year, the NPA in KwaZulu-Natal was able to ensure the extradition from Eswatini of a suspect it wanted in connection with the murder of his girlfriend in Nongoma in 2020. After allegedly stabbing his girlfriend to death, the suspect fled to Eswatini.
An extradition request from South Africa was heard by a court in Eswatini last year and the magistrate held the suspect was extraditable. The minister of justice in Eswatini confirmed the magistrate’s order before the suspect was extradited back to South Africa in August 2023.
Also last year, four killers from Lesotho who murdered farmer Jurie Wynand Wessels and attempted to kill his wife Liezel Wessels in May 2019 in Bonnievale in the Western Cape were sentenced to life imprisonment. After committing the crimes, three of the seasonal workers fled to Lesotho and the NPA lodged an extradition request. After a lengthy extradition inquiry, they were brought back to South Africa.
In December 2022, the NPA’s Investigating Directorate won its case in a UK magistrate’s court for the extradition of fugitive Eskom contractor Michael Lomas, one of the accused in a R745m fraud and corruption case. The extradition battle took two years.
Here’s hoping the extradition of the two suspects from Eswatini will not delay the murder trial of AKA and Motsoane.
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