AfriForum: Govt ‘defeating ends of justice’ in Bridgette Motsepe matter
Lobby group AfriForum has accused the Department of Justice of dragging its feet in the matter involving businesswoman Bridgette Motsepe-Radebe and former Botswana President Ian Khama.
The pair are facing allegations of money laundering involving at least $10 billion, espionage and the financing of political unrest in Botswana.
Botswana has accused Motsepe-Radebe of helping finance a coup attempt against reigning President Mokgweetsi Masisi in 2019.
AfriForum’s private prosecution unit, headed by Advocate Gerrie Nel, has been hired by the Botswana government to help it pursue a case of money laundering against Motsepe.
The matter was referred to the Department of International Relations, which then redirected it to the Justice Department.
But AfriForum says the Justice Department is unusually quiet about the matter.
“The main purpose of today is to deal with the Department of Justice's head-in-the-sand approach to contentious cases.
“The Department of Justice maintains a deafening silence in the hope that matters will wain so that they do not have to make decisions that might upset certain persons.”
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Nel says Botswana’s request for mutual legal assistance to that department has gone unanswered for several months.
“They’ve not received any response to their request for mutual legal assistance, they were concerned that the application seemed to have been lost.”
Nel has called for a speedy response by South Africa to the request by the Botswana government.
“The refusal may be tantamount to defeating the ends of justice. This refusal is an embodiment of lip service in the state’s fight against corruption.”
The lobby group says it will approach the courts, should the department fail to provide an update on the matter.
On Wednesday private investigators, hired by Motsepe, released a report into the allegations against her and Khama – labelling it as “fabrications”.
Listen to Adv Gerrie Nel below:
