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#Guptas also eyed Northern Cape for coal

───   LUCKY NKUYANE 11:30 Thu, 23 Jun 2022

#Guptas also eyed Northern Cape for coal | News Article

The Northern Cape, which is the largest province in the country, was reportedly also eyed by the notorious Gupta family.

According to the latest and final volume of the State Capture report handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa, one of the Gupta brothers, Ajay Gupta, had previously inquired about the sale of coal from the Northern Cape.

In Part 5 of the Zondo Commission's report, Ajay is said to have conversed with the former Member of Parliament (MP), Vytjie Mentor, about coal and told her that uranium was needed for nuclear energy and that the Guptas would soon be the main supplier of uranium for the government’s nuclear programme.

Zondo, in his report, says the conversation or the inquiry from Ajay was solely on the basis that Ajay said he knew Mentor who came from the Northern Cape. The Gupta brothers Rajesh and Atul Gupta are currently held at an undisclosed police station in Dubai, after they ran from the grasp and the might of the law in South Africa for their misdeeds in the country where they are alleged to have looted billions of rands from the country. Ajay has since responded to these accusations from Mentor in a responding affidavit and denied all the claims.

Meanwhile following the alleged arrests of the Gupta brothers by the police in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has released a statement and addressed the extradition processes of the brothers.

In this statement, the NPA’s national spokesperson, Mthunzi Mhaga, says the extradition process are complex and each one has its peculiar dynamics, depending on the country involved. He says expert prosecutors in the NPA have been dealing with extradition cases for many years.

The NPA is on track to finalise this process, in close consultation with relevant authorities in the UAE and INTERPOL as required, acting in full compliance with domestic and international legal obligations relating to extradition. The diplomatic and political aspects are being dealt with in parallel by our colleagues in the Ministry, Department of Justice, and Department of International Relations and Co-operations.

We have previously explained why we will not be commenting on the legal dimensions of the case at this early stage, and this remains our position for important legal and case-specific reasons. However, we note with concern the widespread misinformation and speculation about how the NPA and its leadership are handling this complex legal process,” Mhaga further adds.

OFM News previously reported that during one of the failed R250 million Estina Vrede Dairy adjacent case, the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court heard how the Free State was one of the provinces often looted by the notorious Gupta family members and associates.

ALSO READ: Free State 'often looted by Guptas'

The leading prosecutor, Peter Serunye, informed Magistrate Estelle de Lange that - from the testimonies in the state capture commission - it came to the fore that the Gupta family accumulated R49 billion in the country and R25 million looted from the study was just a portion of it.

Where is Ajay Gupta?

The South African reported back in 2019, the NPA have made the controversial decision to drop the arrest warrant that was issued for Ajay Gupta. He has been living alongside his brothers in Dubai for the last 52 months.

The Indian billionaire was accused of offering Mcebisi Jonas a R600 million bribe to take the role of finance minister a few years ago, in exchange for looking favourably upon the family when it came to securing government tenders and operating the country from behind the shadows.

Alas, questions have since been raised about this particular testimony in the State Capture Inquiry, and the state’s case against Ajay Gupta doesn’t appear to hold the same weight as the arguments lined up for Atul and Rajesh.

Though prosecuting authorities in South Africa remain interested in Ajay, arresting him at this point remains a more difficult task.

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