The National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Shamila Batohi, says the lodging of the formal request for the extradition of the Gupta brothers is an important milestone.

The Department of Justice today confirmed that the extradition request for Atul and Rajesh Gupta has been submitted to the UAE central authority.

This after the Department received a request from the National Director of Public Prosecutions on 18 July for the extradition of the Gupta Brothers to stand trial on charges of fraud and money laundering.

Batohi says it moves the NPA closer to its goal to hold accountable the perpetrators of state capture.

Batohi says the NPA will continue to collaborate with, and support, their counterparts in the UAE to do what is needed to get the Gupta brothers back to South Africa.

She says they are confident that their papers with the UAE authorities are in order. Batohi has conceded the process of extradition could take several months.

Read the excerpt from the Department of Justice’s press release: