Cape Town —
Gupta Brothers Arrested in Dubai – NPA Needs Watertight Case to Extradite
The Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh, have been arrested in Dubai. The National Prosecuting Authority needs to work on ensuring their extradition to South Africa to face trial on the looting of State coffers, better known as State capture. The brothers have evaded any arrest until now. The depths at which State capture weakened South Africa’s economy was first exposed by former public protector Thuli Madonsela in her report which implicated the Guptas together with their close friend, former president Jacob Zuma. Revelations at the Zondo Commission of Enquiry further revealed how various State entities like Eskom, Transnet and others were used for the purpose of enriching the Gupta family.
Comair Grounding
A cash crunch at Comair and their grounding of Kulula and British Airways flights, operated under licence, has seen a 40% cut in domestic seat capacity. While other airlines are adding flights to their rosters, filling the gap by finding additional aircraft, pilots and cabin crew will take time. The Competition Commission has also warned against price gauging by airlines on ticket sales during this time.
Health Minister Calls for Calm as Measles Cases Emerge in Gauteng
Health Minister Joe Phalla is calling for calm after four cases of measles – three in Tshwane and one on the west rand, were detected. Health authorities in the area are working to identify and vaccinate all contacts. There has been a global increase of 79% of measles cases. Measles is a highly contagious disease that is caused by a virus which mainly spreads through infectious airborne respiratory droplets from infected persons when coughing or sneezing, the minister said.