After a delay of nearly six years, the NPA has begun the process of extraditing suspected murderers Ismael Gafaranga and Alex Sugira, both Rwandan citizens, from Rwanda, according to former NPA star prosecutor Gerrie Nel, head of AfriForum’s private prosecuting unit.

Phindi Mjonondwane, spokesperson for the NPA Gauteng division, confirmed that the NPA had signed warrants for the arrests for Gafaranga and Sugira.

She also confirmed that the NPA was preparing an application for the extradition of the two men from Rwanda.

Gafaranga – better known as Apollo – is accused of having been the ringleader of the plot to kill Karegeya. Karegeya trusted him and he usually stayed with Karegeya whenever he came to South Africa from Rwanda.

But in December 2013 Apollo asked instead to stay in a hotel and Karegeya booked him into the Michelangelo. Karegeya went to visit him in his hotel room in the hotel room on December 31 and it is believed that Apollo let the other assassins into the room to kill Karegeya.

At a Randburg Magistrate’s Court hearing on the case in May 2019, the chief investigating officer in the case disclosed that the SA police believed the Rwandan government was behind Karegeya’s murder. And that was why Pretoria had tried to extradite them from Rwanda shortly after the murder.

Police dockets showed that the SA police believe that Gararanga, Sugira and two other hit men were sent from Rwanda late in December 2013 to kill Karegeya, who had fallen out with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and fled to South Africa a few years before.

Karegeya was allegedly lured into a room in the plush Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton on 31 December 2013 and strangled with a curtain cord. His body was only found the next day, by which time the alleged assassins had already fled the country.

The NPA’s decision to prosecute two of the alleged murderers at last only came after considerable pressure from Nel and his AfriForum private prosecuting unit.

After being approached by Karegeya’s family and associates, earlier this year Nel opposed a judicial inquest into the death of Karegeya by the Randburg Magistrate’s Court.

As the long-delayed inquest was about to start, Nel persuaded the magistrate to halt proceedings on the grounds that the inquest was unnecessary as the state already had all the information it needed to proceed with a prosecution against four named Rwandan suspects.

Nel suggested then, and hinted again on Monday 9 September, that Pretoria had deliberately not issued warrants of arrest against the four for political reasons – to avoid offending Rwanda.

Rwanda’s high commissioner to South Africa, Vincent Karega, said on Monday, 9 September that neither he nor his government were aware of an extradition request from the South African government.

However, it is likely that the process of applying for extradition has not yet reached the Rwandan government.

In its statement on Monday, AfriForum said the NPA had informed Nel that it had issued warrants of arrest for Ismael Gafaranga and Alex Sugira and was also in the process of applying for their extradition.

“As soon as the extradition request is granted, the NPA will apply to Interpol for the issuing of so-called ‘Red Notices’ for the suspects.

“This follows Adv Nel and the Private Prosecution Unit supporting the Karegeya family in the informal inquest into the death of Karegeya. The Randburg Magistrate’s Court in April of this year referred the case back to the NPA for them to decide whether they will prosecute the responsible suspects, as found in the court’s order.”

Nel said the NPA’s notice was a big victory.

“However, it is also an indication that the NPA has abused the legal system as warrants for arrest were issued without any further investigation. This after the NPA indicated that they could not make a decision to prosecute on the available evidence and recommended a judicial inquest.”

AfriForum said it had revealed this abuse of the legal system during the judicial inquest proceedings, and the court, on Nel’s advice, had refused to continue with the inquest.

“The only feasible conclusion is that the NPA wanted to avoid a prosecution. We welcome the current steps and hope that the NPA will continue with the process keenly. AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit and the family of the deceased will closely monitor the process,” AfriForum said. DM

This story was updated post-publication to include comment from the NPA’s Gauteng spokeswomen.