Though Justice Minister Ronald Lamola didn’t mention either the UAE or the Guptas by name, they were his clear targets in a speech he gave on Thursday at the eighth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Lamola is heading a high-level South African government delegation to the conference which is ironically taking place in the UAE. Lamola has been in the UAE since the 16 December, meeting UAE officials to urge them to ratify the extradition treaty which the two governments signed in 2018 or to provide legal co-operation in another form.

Senior government officials have made clear the main purpose of the extradition treaty is to get the UAE to send the Guptas back to South Africa to stand trial on charges related to their capture of many government departments and enterprises during Jacob Zuma’s presidency. They also want UAE assistance in recovering stolen assets which the Guptas and others are suspected to have stashed in the UAE.

Official sources told Daily Maverick that the UAE officials told Lamola this week that the reason the extradition treaty has not been ratified in a year was because of problems with the Arabic translation of it.

Lamola’s frustration with this sort of unconvincing explanation was evident, reading between the lines of his address to the UN anti-corruption conference in Abu Dhabi.

“In practice, it should not be possible for any country who states that it is serious about fighting corruption to reject Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) and/or extradition requests solely on the grounds of non-material technical or formal deficiencies,” Lamola said.

“South Africa is therefore concerned that there are some state parties (to UNCAC) who have mastered the art of delaying or refusing to ratify extradition treaties and MLAs — thus frustrating the very spirit and object of the treaty. Ultimately, these states run the risk of becoming safe havens of corruption.”

“We appeal to all those who we have approached and may still be approaching to co-operate and assist us. It would be a travesty of justice if states decide to stand by and watch as our stolen assets are laundered through their financial systems whilst our economy is on a brink of collapse with dire consequences for our population.

“The implications, of a lack of action, will ultimately destroy the future of pending generations.”

Officials noted that this was a clear reference to the UAE which, like South Africa, is a state party to UNCAC. That placed an obligation on the UAE to provide mutual legal assistance to South Africa in fighting corruption, regardless of the existence or otherwise of extradition treaties or other agreements between the two countries, they said.

As Lamola said:

“We do emphasise that state parties to UNCAC are not limited only to the treaties for co-operation. By virtue of being signatories to this convention we are obliged to promote, facilitate and support international co-operation and technical assistance in the prevention of and fight against corruption, including in asset recovery.”

Lamola said South Africa had approached several countries including UNCAC members “for mutual legal assistance (MLA) and/or extradition agreements to have those suspected of State Capture (returned) to face charges in South Africa.”

South Africa had already entered into bilateral extradition treaties with 18 countries and MLA agreements with 13 states. Officials said one of the latter states was India — where the Guptas may also have transferred assets, according to speculation.

“With 186 states parties the convention is unique — not only in its reach, but also for the scope of its provisions, with both preventive and punitive measures. It addresses the cross-border nature of corruption with provisions on international co-operation and on the return of the proceeds of corruption,” Lamola said.

“On Agenda Item 5 (pertaining to Asset Recovery) and Item 6 (International Co-operation), South Africa believes that international co-operation is essential for the successful recovery of assets that have been transferred to or hidden in foreign jurisdictions.

“At all material times, nation states cannot gather evidence without the co-operation and assistance of sister states.

“There should be a voluntary willingness for states to move quickly to preserve money that might have been laundered. International co-operation is of critical importance.

“As such Mutual Legal Assistance and extradition treaties are the critical instruments to fight transnational corruption. States have to be swift and timely to assist one another.”

“South Africa is consequently committed to bringing those guilty of corruption — and in particular offenders relating to State Capture — to book.”

Lamola made clear that South Africa was committed to fight corruption and strengthen international co-operation and co-ordination to do so. He also said that corruption was the greatest obstacle to economic and social development the world over and the fight against this, “calls for concerted efforts by all of us”.

Lamola said South Africa had a flexible approach to providing mutual legal assistance to other countries. For example “dual criminality” was not a strict requirement. Dual criminality means a country will only extradite a person to another country if the crime he is wanted for in that country is also a crime in the extradition country.

“Combating corruption remains a major priority for the South African government due to its prevalence in both the government and private sector, as it is a strong constraint on growth and development.”

He said that as part of its fight against corruption, the Special Investigating Unit’s Special Tribunal, appointed in March 2019r, was tasked with adjudicating civil processes aimed at recovering moneys siphoned off through corruption and other forms of illicit money flows.

“Our Asset Forfeiture Unit, with the assistance of its law enforcement counterparts, has embarked on a programme to identify several focus areas with the view of extending its footprint in the fight against crime and corruption.

“The Asset Forfeiture Unit has identified a number of priority focus areas based on priorities identified by the government. These areas include, among others, State Capture matters and corruption.”

Lamola also stressed that the management, administration and utilisation of returned stolen assets was the sole responsibility of the requesting state, from where the assets were unlawfully stolen. Therefore no conditions could be imposed on such assets, as a matter of principle.

Officials said Lamola would stay at the conference as long as it took to get satisfactory answers on his requests for legal assistance. DM