The Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa has dismissed the Mozambican government’s application for leave to appeal against the Johannesburg High Court’s decision that former Mozambican finance minister, Manuel Chang, should be extradited to the United States to face corruption charges.

The application for leave to appeal was dismissed on 8 December on the grounds that there was “no reasonable prospect of success in an appeal and there is no other compelling reason why an appeal should be heard”.

The dismissal put paid to the Mozambican government’s latest attempt to appeal against the Johannesburg High Court order handed down in November 2021. It previously sought leave to appeal against the decision in the high court and the Constitutional Court, but was denied in both instances.

Chang was arrested in Johannesburg in December 2018 on a US warrant, according to a Daily Maverick report. The US government had indicted him on charges of corruption related to a fraudulent $2-billion scheme — also known as the “hidden debts” scandal — he was involved in, in 2013 and 2014, when he was the Mozambican finance minister.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Johannesburg High Court extends order to forbid Justice Minister Lamola from extraditing Manuel Chang to Mozambique”

In January 2019, the US requested that South Africa extradite Chang to America to face the charges. Just a few days later, the Mozambican government — which until then had not indicted him — requested that he be extradited to his home country to face charges arising from the same fraudulent scheme.

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

Two successive South African justice ministers have attempted to extradite Chang to Mozambique — first Michael Masutha in May 2019, then Ronald Lamola in August 2021. However, the Johannesburg High Court overturned both ministers’ decisions, largely in response to concerns voiced by Mozambique’s Fórum de Monitoria do Orçamento (Forum for Monitoring the Budget).

The forum is a collective of watchdog non-government organisations which fears that Chang will not be prosecuted if extradited to Mozambique, due to possible immunity from prosecution for any actions he took as a minister and member of parliament.

The ‘hidden debts’ scandal

As part of the “hidden debts” scandal, Chang is reported to have signed off government guarantees on $2-billion in secret loans from Russia’s VTB Bank and Credit Suisse.

According to an ISS Today article, the loans were intended for the purchase of fishing and patrol boats by three parastatals. However, the US indictment against Chang and others claims that the stated intention was a scam to elicit loans, which were then largely used for bribes.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Mozambique president Filipe Nyusi has vested interest in keeping Manuel Chang out of a US court”

It appears that Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi does not want Chang to testify about the “hidden debts” scandal in the US. One possible reason put forward in ISS Today is that Nyusi was the defence minister at the time the fraudulent scheme took place. 

As the three parastatals that received the $2-billion in loans were involved in defence and security, some believe he may have been aware of what was going on. DM