Cape Town - Namibian fugitive lawyer Marén de Klerk, the self-confessed paymaster in Namibia’s ongoing multimillion “Fishrot” corruption case, is set to make an appearance in the Paarl Magistrate’s Court today where a magistrate will determine bail.
De Klerk was arrested last week on charges of racketeering, fraud, corruption and money laundering under an Interpol red notice following a joint operation by the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team and Interpol.
Hawks spokesperson Katlego Mogale said during De Klerk’s arrest, a cellphone and laptop were confiscated for further investigation.
At the same time the Namibian authorities have applied to have De Klerk extradited. The arrest came ahead of last Friday’s brief second appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court of Rwandan genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema.
He is charged with two counts of fraud and three offences related to the Immigration Act. However, NPA advocate Nathan Adriaanse asked the court to postpone the case as the State had “two lever files full” of new evidence.
Adriaanse said he would be in a position to tell the court exactly how many charges would be made against Kayishema at the next appearance set for Friday when Kayishema is expected to apply for bail.
In the same week as Kayishema’s arrest, four Bulgarian nationals were shot dead at a Constantia mansion and one, Krasimir Nikolaev Kamenov, has since been named as a wanted fugitive by Interpol.
Last year, Israel’s most-wanted mobster Yaniv Ben Simon was found hiding in Johannesburg after seven years on the run.
All these incidents have once more put Cape Town and South Africa in the global spotlight as a place where fugitives from across the world go to ground to escape justice in their native countries.
Forensic consultant Paul O’Sullivan said on Friday that South Africa had been considered a safe haven for international fugitives from as far back as the 1980s.
He said the Western Cape was particularly attractive, as most of the year the city was swamped with tourists, so the foreign fugitives from justice can hide in plain sight.
O’Sullivan said the other reason South Africa attracted the fugitives was because of corruption in the criminal justice system and Department of Home Affairs.
He said a classic case was that of the known al-Shabaab terrorist, Samantha Lewthwaite, aka Natalie Webb or the White Widow.
“She slipped into South Africa on a British passport and went into hiding in 2008. Three years later, using a fraudulently obtained South African passport, she flew to Nairobi.
“There she assisted in the planning and operational aspects of al-Shabaab crimes.”
This included the Westgate Mall siege, which ultimately led to the loss of 67 innocent lives and approximately R2 billion in damage to the mall and economy of Nairobi.
“It was a major embarrassment to South Africa at the time,” O’Sullivan said.
