UK court rules Kusile corruption accused Michael Lomas can be extradited to SA, despite high suicide risk

A London judge, Charles Bourne, has found there are appropriate measures in place in South Africa to provide Briton Michael Lomas, who has suicidal tendencies, with mental health treatment, including hospitalisation if necessary.

Lomas (77), a former Kusile Power Station contractor wanted by South African authorities in connection with a R745-million fraud case, will be extradited to South Africa in due course.

On 23 August, Bourne dismissed Lomas’s request for his extradition to be blocked because of his mental health issues. 

According to Bourne, Lomas suffers from depression, anxiety and insomnia, and has previously sought treatment for these symptoms, as well as for suicidal thoughts.

However, the judge found: “There was no compelling evidence that Mr Lomas would be unable to control his suicidal impulses, as suicide could be viewed as a voluntary act despite the underlying mental health issues.

“The South African prison system was deemed capable of addressing Mr Lomas’s mental needs with appropriate medical care and monitoring in place.

“Mr Lomas will not learn that his extradition is confirmed until the day when it is to happen, whereupon he will immediately be accompanied by the SAPS members and a psychiatrist on his flight back to South Africa.”

Kusile Power Station corruption allegations

The judgment means that Lomas is finally coming to SA to face 41 counts of corruption related to a R745-million contract at Eskom’s Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga.

Lomas, with former Eskom senior manager France Hlakudi, former Eskom group capital division executive Abram Masango, businessperson Maphoko Kgomoeswana and Tubular Construction Projects CEO Tony Trindade, has been charged with fraud, corruption and money laundering.

The indictment alleges Masango and Hlakudi fraudulently pushed for Tubular Construction Projects to be awarded a R745-million contract, signed in April 2016, to build air-cooled condensers at Kusile. Masango and Hlakudi had oversight of contracts in the Kusile build.

In September 2021, the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria issued a provisional restraint order to the tune of R1.4-billion against Hlakudi, Kgomoeswana, Trindade and his wife, freezing their assets and bank accounts. 

Lomas was arrested on 15 April 2021 in Emsworth, London, and granted bail of £100,000 (R1.7-million in April 2021). He submitted an additional surety of £250,000. On 15 December 2022, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London granted South Africa the right to extradite Lomas. 

‘Extremely high’ suicide risk

At the extradition hearing, Dr Alan Mitchell testified that Lomas had health issues, including multilateral degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, which caused weakness in his right arm and hand, poor balance, unsteadiness and limited mobility. He underwent spinal surgery in June 2023 and April 2024.

A neuropsychiatrist and a neuropsychologist testified that Lomas had a recurrent depressive disorder with an elevated risk of suicide.

Another psychiatrist, Dr Bradley Hillier, saw Lomas on 5 June and stated in a letter that his risk of committing suicide was “extremely high and potentially imminent”.  

As to the likely effect of extradition on Lomas, Hillier found this “exceptionally difficult to answer” but concluded: “It is only possible to say that Lomas would continue to present with the same risk factors, just potentially in less comfortable surroundings and with less access to social support which he had in the UK.”

Handing down judgment, Bourne said: “I accept that Mr Lomas needs ongoing treatment for his depression and that his extradition would lead to an elevated risk of suicide and appropriate close monitoring will be needed should he be imprisoned in South Africa in order to ensure he does not harm himself or attempt suicide.

“I am satisfied that there are appropriate private arrangements in place, both in this jurisdiction and in custody in South Africa, to provide Mr Lomas with appropriate treatment for his mental health, including hospital if required, to reduce the risk of self-harm and suicide that he might otherwise pose.”

Transfer safety arrangements

In an affidavit deposed in July, Captain Willem van der Heever, a police officer based with Interpol in Pretoria, who is in charge of transporting Lomas from the UK to South Africa, said Lomas would be monitored by an Interpol team consisting of four SAPS members during his flight and at all stages of his transfer from the UK.

He said Lomas’s medication would be given to an accompanying doctor from South Africa and retained by the doctor, who would administer the correct doses to him at appropriate times.

Once Lomas lands in South Africa, he will be handed over to the investigating officer. He will be taken to the airport police station for formal processing before being taken to court for his first appearance.

He will then be driven to the Johannesburg Correctional Centre, where the accompanying doctor will be present.

Lomas will be referred to the centre’s suicidal inmate management, where he will be placed in a single cell and an official will be assigned to check him regularly during the day and night shifts.

Within six to 12 hours of his admission, an additional health and physical risk assessment will be conducted by a nurse.

In addition, Du Plessis said, “For any court appearances after the first appearances while Lomas is in custody, he will be transported from the correctional facility to court and back by at least three members of SAPS from my office.” DM