Atul Gupta and his family fled South Africa in September 2018 amid allegations of large-scale corruption involving the state.

“Gupta had approached the Consul General of South Africa in Dubai to apply for a passport which was rejected after confirmation was received from the National Prosecuting Authority that a warrant of arrest was issued against him for criminal offences of fraud and money-laundering, related to the Vrede Dairy Project,” said the department’s spokesperson Siya Qoza.

“In February 2021, Gupta approached the court seeking to force the department to issue him with a new South African passport, claiming that he had a constitutional right to a passport as a citizen of the country.”

On Friday, the court found that Gupta did not give a specific address in Dubai.

“All that he seems prepared to state, is that he is a South African citizen residing in Dubai. Nothing further is disclosed. I am of the view that this was not an oversight on the applicant’s side but was deliberate,” the court said in its ruling.

Qoza says the court also ordered Gupta to pay for the cost of the application.

“Friday’s judgment shows that you cannot want to escape accountability in a country and seek to enjoy the use of documents that are exclusively reserved for law-abiding citizens of that country. Minister Motsoaledi instructed the Department to immediately start the process to recover the costs.”

Jacaranda News