News24.com | FRIDAY BRIEFING | Lost: Two heavy blows for the NPA in April

Lost: Two heavy blows for the NPA in April 

When Interpol issued a red notice last year for alleged state capture kingpins Rajesh and Atul Gupta, it felt like the wheels of justice were slowly starting to turn. 

The Investigating Directorate, under Hermione Cronje, had applied for the Interpol red notices for the two brothers in relation to the R24.9 million paid to Nulane Investment, a company owned and controlled by former Transnet board member and Gupta ally, Iqbal Sharma. It was claimed this was allegedly used for a fraudulent feasibility study for the Free State's flagship Mohoma Mobung project – the genesis of the Estina "dairy farm" scam.

Four months later, the pair were arrested in Dubai. Following this development, South Africa delivered a formal extradition request to the United Arab Emirates in July last year.

Hopes that the Gupta brothers would be brought to South Africa to face the music were dashed in April when it was revealed the United Arab Emirates had dismissed the request for the extradition. 

More bad news was to follow. Weeks after the Dubai Appeal Court declined to extradite Atul and Rajesh Gupta to face trial in South Africa, the Free State High Court, where the Nulane case was being heard, slammed the State for failing to produce any evidence that the family's network was implicated in money-laundering.

The court granted Section 174 discharges to all but one of the accused in the fraud and money-laundering case. The final accused was acquitted.

In this week's Friday Briefing, News24's legal writer Karyn Maughan asks whether it was malice or incompetence or both on the part of the NPA in its failure to get a conviction in the country's first anticipated 'state capture' trial. 

The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution's Lawson Naidoo takes a different approach, writing that the Nulane case was enrolled in mid-2021, perhaps over-eagerly, which may have led to the outcome. He notes that the NPA is employing a new strategic approach subsequent to the Nulane decision, which will hopefully result in a better consequence.

Finally, News24's investigative writer Sipho Masondo examines how state capture remains very much an issue within law enforcement agencies. He has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to act before it is too late. 

Have a good weekend. 

Best, 

Vanessa Banton 

Opinions editor.