South Africa formally requested on Monday July 25 the extradition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of two brothers of the Gupta family, accused of orchestrating corruption on an industrial scale in the country.
Businessmen Atul and Rajesh Gupta, arrested in June in Dubai, were wanted for fraud and money laundering.
The arrest warrant mentions in particular a dubious public contract of the equivalent of 1.5 million euros, linked to an agricultural feasibility study.
Small fry in the face of the scale of the charges against the family.
"Capture" of the State
They are accused of looting the most industrialized African country, with the complicity of ex-president Jacob Zuma.
So much so that the South Africans have invented a suitable formula: they do not speak of corruption but of "
capture
" of the state.
“
We can confirm that the extradition request was duly submitted to the central authority of the UAE today
,” Justice Minister Ronald Lamola told a press conference.
This request is the first step in a procedure which, according to experts, could take years.
The third brother, Ajay, is not concerned in this chapter but is cited in another case of embezzlement and corruption.
Read alsoSouth Africa: Washington sanctions the Gupta family, linked to corruption scandals
The sulphurous trio of Indian origin is accused of having infiltrated the top of the state, taking advantage of a long friendship with Jacob Zuma whom they bought with bribes during his two mandates (2009-2018 ).
They methodically siphoned off the country's coffers, looted public enterprises and extended their hold to influence the choice of ministers.
In 2018, an independent commission was set up to investigate state corruption.
The ANC then pushes Jacob Zuma to resign, the Guptas vanish into thin air, before being found in Dubai.