Walls are closing in on Guptas

ambassador”.

Ambassador Alhameli declined to be interviewed, “to maintain a good diplomatic relationship”.

“We appreciate the position of South Africa regarding their need for information and it was necessary to reach the completion of the treaty procedures. Both parties need each other,” Alhameli told Independent Media, yesterday.

In the past, said Eisenberg, the UAE was used by South African fugitives to escape extradition. But this is all changing.

“(The UAE) is trying to modernise into a western style of government and to clean up its regulations,” said Eisenberg. And he believes there was much more going on behind the scenes. “So this was probably a well co-ordinated, international event or set of events from various directions. I’d ask why the UAE ratified the extradition agreement after a number of years, just after South Africa issued an arrest warrant.”

The arrest warrant for Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh, and their wives, Chetali and Arti, is for their alleged involvement in the failed Estina dairy farm in Vrede, Free State.

It comes as the inquiry into state capture draws to a close after hearing explosive evidence of how the Gupta brothers and their associates allegedly made off with billions of South Africa’s money. The pressure is mounting on the government to hold them to account.

On Thursday, political parties and civic organisations gathered outside the UAE Embassy in Pretoria and demanded the Guptas assets be seized, their extradition process begin, and that they should finally be brought to book within South Africa’s institutional justice system.

South Africa and the UAE began negotiating the treaties in February 2010 and the agreement between the two nations was entered into in September 2018. The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services at the time, advocate Michael Masutha, and his UAE counterpart, Sultan Saeed Al Badi, signed the treaties in Abu Dhabi.

Within two months of entering into the agreement, South Africa ratified the treaties.

“In essence, the ratification by the UAE concludes a 10-year process,” Lamola said.

The treaties will come into force 30 days after the ratification instruments have been exchanged, which is July 10, 2021.

IT has been a bittersweet week for Durbanville, Cape Town, pastor Mark Christopher.

While he had managed to put a stop to the puppy daycare activities of his neighbour, he also received a lot of “hate mail” from dog lovers.

Christopher earlier turned to the Western Cape High Court for an order to make the owner of Puppy Town, Jolindi Verster, close down her business.

While the court has now delivered its verdict and ordered Verster to close down, Christopher has received a lot of criticism from dog lovers as well as people who questioned how he could put a single mother out of business.

At the time of launching his application, Christopher cited both

Jolindi and her husband, Pieter Verster, as respondents. It now appears the couple are no longer together.

Speaking to the Pretoria News, Christopher said it was never about the puppy daycare.

“I actually applaud her for the initiative to run such a business. I think it’s a great idea, but just not in a suburb.”

Christopher also said while many are now pointing fingers at him, he is a dog lover himself. It’s just that 17 barking dogs in suburbia can become too much.

He said he turned to court as a last resort – both because Verster’s business proved to be a nuisance to the peace and quiet of the suburb and because it transgressed numerous by-laws.

Christopher described in his court papers how people dropped their furry children at his neighbour’s home in the morning before work and fetched them again in the afternoons.

Apart from the barking during the day, the dropping and fetching also sparked a great deal of barking. It became so bad that neither he nor his family could sit in their backyard.

Also, as a pastor, Christopher needed some quiet to write sermons or consult with his flock.

“I’ve been asked several times why I just don’t sell and move. It isn’t that I haven’t thought about it more than once. But unlike the previous owner of our current home, I would have to be honest in the spirit of full disclosure and inform prospective buyers about Puppy Town.

“Who in their right mind would knowingly buy a property with up to 17 barking dogs just on the other side of the back wall that set off other barking dogs on adjoining properties?

“And while I love dogs and animals, I would never knowingly buy a property next door to the SPCA or the zoo.”

Christopher also questioned why he should, when the law is on his side.

“Had Puppy Town sought a proper business licence and put up signage I would have seen it when my wife and I originally drove around the neighbourhood and we would have never purchased our current house.”

Christopher said this turned into a three-year nightmare with the city, who at the end did nothing about the situation. “So, I took out an access bond on my home to pay for the legal fees and began the process.”

He said given the social media campaign that had been waged against him at various times throughout this ordeal, his relationship with Puppy Town is obviously strained.

“I wish them no ill will and hope and pray they find a suitable location for their business to thrive once again.”

Verster denied in her opposing court papers that her business was a nuisance to neighbours. She said there were some neighbours who supported her and who said the barking was not bad at all.

According to the papers, she in any event scaled down her business.