The Weekend View

Is there a real appetite by South Africa to extradite the Gupta brothers and other fugitives from justice?? This is a question that many South Africans are asking after this week's announcement of the failure of the Gupta brothers' extradition process in the United Arab Emirates. However yesterday's announcement of the re-arrest of escaped fugitive Thabo Bester in Tanzania  along with Dr Nandipha Magudumana and a Mozambican national who has been named as Zacharia Alberto, has some what re-ignited the hope that justice may be served. In our Sunday Morning Discussion we  want to examine whether the re-arrest of Thabo Bester improves the chances of other fugitives, like the Gupta brothers, to face justice in South Africa.
For this conversation we spoke to Advocate Paul Hoffman, Director at Accoutability Now, as well as  Independent Writer and Researcher, Dr Dale McKinley.

The tussle between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Parliament over the shortlisted candidates and reserve pool names submitted to serve on the SABC board continues and may end up at the Constitutional Court.  The President, who was provided with 12 candidates and an additional three names, questioned the legality of such a move in terms of the Broadcasting Act. This week Parliament's legal advisor, Adv Andile Tetyana, found that President Ramaphosa acted unlawfully when he wrote to Parliament, referring the matter back to the National Assembly. The public broadcaster has been operating without a board of directors for six months now. The President is also facing a challenge from media watchdog, Media Monitoring Africa, who have filed papers in the Constitutional Court to compel the President to appoint a board.  We spoke to William Bird, director at Media Monitoring Africa 

A high level government delegation will depart from South Africa today for Tanzania to bring back rapist and murderer Thabo Bester, his girlfriend, Nandipha Magudumana and a Mozambican national who was assisting them. The Mozambican has been named as Zacharia Alberto. The three were arrested in Tanzania on Friday night. Bester and Magudumana have been on the run since his escape became public last month. It had been believed he had died in a fire, at the Mangaung prison in Bloemfontein, but he had escaped in May last year. Justice Minister, Ronald Lamola has confirmed that officials from security company G4S are implicated in the escape of Thabo Bester from prison. We spoke to Professor Kholofelo Rakubu, Acting Head in the Department of Safety and Security Management at the Tshwane University of Technology.

here has been widespread shock and disbelief following the announcement of the failure of the Gupta brothers' extradition process in the United Arab Emirates.   Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said all necessary diplomatic and legal processes were followed in South Africa's bid to extradite the Guptas but the process was unsuccessful. The ruling took place almost two months ago.  The brothers face charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering related to state capture. For their reaction to this development we spoke to Mkhuleko Hlengwa, Spokesperson for the opposition IFP. He is also the Chairman of Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts - SCOPA ...

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) this week revoked former SAA director Yakhe Kwinana's membership following the outcome of her disciplinary hearing.  Kwinana is a former SAA board member who came into the spotlight when she used the "fat cake" analogy at the commission into State Capture  to justify cancelling an 85 million Rand contract and handing it to subsidiary, Air Chefs,  without a tender.The tender was initially awarded to LSG Sky Chefs. Kwinana served as a board member at the national carrier between 2009 and 2016. This is what she said during her testimony to the State Capture commission in November 2020.

The SAICA Disciplinary Committee found Kwinana guilty of 13 of the 14 charges against her. According to the committee Kwinana is not a fit and proper individual to be a member of the profession and has been fined six-point-one-million rand for all 13 of her charges.  To explain this decision we spoke to CEO of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), Freeman Nomvalo...

Kwa Zulu Natal province says it is geared to welcome holiday-makers to a fun-filled Easter Weekend. The province experienced a disastrous festive season last year due to the high E-coli levels in some beaches coupled with the effects of the devasting floods that rocked the entire economy of the province, especially Ethekwini. To get a sense of how they are faring this Easter holiday we spoke to Pinky Radebe,Senior Manager of Public Relations and Communications at KZN Tourism.

President Cyril Ramaphosa this week signed into law the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill, which extends coverage for occupational injuries and diseases to previously excluded vulnerable workers, and improves compensation benefits to employees.The Bill effects a range of amendments to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act which governs compensation for disablement caused by occupational injuries or diseases sustained or contracted by employees, or for death resulting from injuries or diseases.  The act also now covers other occupations, like domestic workers employed in private households, who were previously excluded. We spoke to Mathew Parks, Cosatu's Parliamentary Coordinator...

The South African government is in a conundrum and it's not yet clear whether it will formally invite Russian President Vladimir Putin who has a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court. South Africa will host the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China at the 15th BRICS Summit from August 22 to 24 this year, raising questions about whether or not the government should act if Putin attends. The minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor this week announced that her Department is awaiting a refreshed legal opinion on extending an invitation to Putin. This comes as there has been widespread condemnation of Russia by Western Nations over its war with Ukraine. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to  Ottilia Maunganidze, Head of Special Projects at the Institute for Security Studies... 

The Department of Correctional Services says it has instituted an investigation into the escape of the so-called Facebook rapist Thabo Bester. The department says the controversial offender, Bester, who was sentenced to a 75-year jail term, did not commit suicide, as earlier reported. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Department of Correctional Services spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo...

The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, THIS WEEK, joined the chorus of condemnation as it slammed the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill passed on Tuesday which imposes severe punishment for same-sex acts, including labeling some acts as crimes punishable by death while imposing stiff sentences for people identifying as LGBTQI+. The UN and other nations have called on President Yoweri Museveni to reject the bill warning that the legislation runs counter to Uganda's own constitutional provisions stipulating equality and non-discrimination for all. The law punishes people with up to 10 years behind bars for simply identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, or anything other than male or female. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Richard Lusimbo, an LGBTQI activist  from Uganda...