Image: SHAFIEK TASSIEM/REUTERS
The South Gauteng High Court on Friday revoked a previous decision to extradite to Mozambique its former finance minister Manuel Chang, wanted in relation to a $2bn (R30bn) debt scandal there that plunged the country’s economy into crisis.
Both the US and Mozambique are seeking the extradition of Chang, who has been in custody in SA since December, when he was arrested at the request of the US for his alleged role in borrowing that US authorities say was fraudulent.
He denies wrongdoing.
Former SA justice minister Michael Masutha had decided before leaving his post that Chang should be sent back to Mozambique, but his successor, Ronald Lamola, applied to the court to have this decision set aside.
On Friday, judge Denise Fisher obliged, sending both Masutha’s decision to extradite Chang to Mozambique as well as his dismissal of the US extradition request to Lamola for him to rule on the matter.
“Both decisions are remitted to the current minister for determination,” the written ruling said.
The parties can appeal against the decision.
A lawyer for Chang did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
“We will study the judgment itself ... consult with our client the Republic of Mozambique and then we will make a decision on the way forward,” Sami Modiba, a lawyer for Mozambique, said after the ruling.
Subject to any appeal, Lamola will now make the final call in a 10-month battle for Chang’s custody that has put the US and Mozambique at loggerheads, just as other powers such as Russia crank up efforts to gain influence in the African country.
One factor in Lamola’s move to have his predecessor’s decision revoked was a concern that Chang still benefited from political immunity in Mozambique.
In an affidavit in August, Mozambique’s attorney-general said that before a lawmaker’s immunity could be formally lifted in the country, that person must appear before a judge there, which Chang cannot do while he is in SA.
If sent to the US, analysts say he may reveal more details of the debt scandal, with potential implications for senior members of the ruling party in Mozambique, where the political situation is fragile after a contested election.
The US charges relate to loans obtained from Credit Suisse and Russia’s VTB bank that were guaranteed by the Mozambican government but some of which were not disclosed, that Chang signed off on during his 2005-2015 term as finance minister.
Their disclosure in 2016 prompted foreign donors including the International Monetary Fund to cut off support for Mozambique, triggering a currency collapse and debt default.
Mozambique has not yet formally charged Chang with a crime, prompting civil society organisations to argue he should be sent to the US.
A trial in Mozambique over the scandal, which has also ensnared three former Credit Suisse bankers, is already under way. — Reuters