Cape Town - The arrest of the Gupta brothers provides renewed hope in the fight against corruption, a crime that continues to derail the development of our country, robbing the poor of much-needed basic services.
This, and the police investigation into the serious allegations against President Cyril Rampahosa over the theft of “concealed” US dollars on his farm, are a rare opportunity for the country’s law enforcement agencies to restore long-lost public confidence.
They should not mess it up. Almost everything, from Eskom’s woes to the inefficiency of our institutions, has been blamed on the Guptas, the alleged kingpins of the state capture project.
After failing to apprehend the controversial family before they left the country, law enforcement agencies should waste no time and immediately begin a process to have the brothers extradited to answer to the long list of allegations against them.
Labelled as the “most wanted” suspects, Atul and Rajesh Gupta were arrested this week after Interpol issued red notices against them and their wives, Nulane Investment Bank of Baroda account signatory Ankit Jain, the director of Wone Management, Ravindra Nath, and the directors of Pragat Investments, Ramesh Bhat and Jagdish Parekh, according to a statement issued by Dubai police.
While their arrest is to be commended as it will finally provide clarity on what happened during ex-president Jacob Zuma’s tenure, they remain innocent until a competent court finds otherwise. The ball is now in the NPA’s court to present a strong case that these fugitives must answer.
Our justice system can ill afford another embarrassing moment, as was the case with other high profile cases involving fugitives.
At the same time, the silence of our revenue services, the SA Reserve Bank and other financial institutions over the foreign currency allegedly concealed at Ramaphosa’s Limpopo farm before it was stolen, does not inspire public confidence. Until now, none of them have confirmed if they have launched an investigation into the matter, leaving much speculation.
These high profile cases will be a tough test for our regulatory bodies, the police and the judiciary in whether they walk the talk – that all cases are dealt with equally, without fear or favour.
Cape Times