Chang, who was arrested at Oliver Tambo International Airport last December on is way to Dubai, argues that he’s being held unlawfully held  and that extradition to the US would be illegal.

Kempton Park Magistrate Sagra Subroyen says her job is not determine whether Manuel Chang is guilty of the $2-billion fraud charges awaiting him in the United States together with charges of securities and wire fraud and money laundering.

She simply has to determine whether the man who headed Mozambique’s finances between 2005 and 2015 he is a candidate for bail.

She says Chang has lied about his finances and would not be returned for extradition by Mozambique authorities.

She maintains releasing him would  undermine South Africa’s criminal justice system. 

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There’s a message for flat-broke South African Airways: hang in there!

It runs in parallel with Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan’s warning that the airline must clean out corruption if it hopes to survive.

And it supersedes the call by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni that that company, which has not made a profit since 2011, must go to the wall.

The latter is perfectly right in saying no bank or enterprise would get involved with SAA in its current financial state.

But Mboweni’s been repudiated by President Cyril Ramaphosa because, he says, closing the airline would necessitate immediate repayment of its R22 billion debt. This would enormously damage the fiscus.

There’s speculation that Ramaphosa’s remarks have turned his new finance minister into a lame duck: a political has-been who is allowed to say what he wants because he  is only serving his time until after next year’s election.

In fact, Mboweni might have been directed to throw a stone into the bush to see what reaction he could provoke from SAA staff and trade unions who have a veritable bottle of bitter pills to swallow if survival is the option.

These range from exposing the corruption within their ranks to accepting marginal salary increases at best.

My introductory message is based on African aviation predictions.

If SAA can survive it can pick itself up on the approaching boom in African air travel.

IATA figures show the increase in air traffic between sub-Saharan Africa and China will run at 11% over the next decade which will place it among the fastest growing routes on the planet.

Projected traffic between South Africa and China is pretty much in line with this.

China is projected to buy 7690 new aircraft by 2037 with a staggering price tag of $1,2 trillion.

This makes the contest between Airbus and Boeing  for sales to China the most interesting aviation battleground.

US President Donald Trump’s trade war with China is doing Boeing no favours  in this dogfight.

Just this week, Airbus executives are in Beijing talking about the sale of 180 Airbus A320s at price of $18 billion dollars.

If it does get to contest the skies tomorrow, SAA will face new competition.

As US voters cast their ballots in the midterm elections, the Airbus 330-800, which will be the warhorse in that battle, made its maiden flight in Toulouse.

The wide-bodied liner with a capacity of 257 passengers is powered by Rolls Royce Trent 7000 engines that are quieter than their predecessors and 14% more fuel efficient.

Air Mauritius, Air Senegal and RwandAir have firmed up their orders for the new aircraft.

The nascent Uganda Air has signed a memorandum of understanding for two A330-800s.

Nigeria that has taken an on-off approach to reinstating a national carrier could add to the competition

However, there is plenty for everyone. 

The dearth of road and rail infrastructure makes air travel between African countries –  and particularly the  movement of perishable goods – indispensable as their population grows to 1,4 billion.

Ethiopian Airlines, which has a fleet more than twice the size of SAA’s, will indubitably remain the continental giant and an example the South African carrier should emulate wherever possible.

It’s major competitors are not SAA, Kenya Airways and Egyptair but Qatar, Emirates and Turkish Airlines.

Its growth has come from a protected regulatory  framework, the cross subsidization of airport revenue and concessionary fees at Ethiopian airports.

Competitive pricing has enabled it to make the frankly substandard Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa a hub competing with Singapore, Istanbul and Dubai.

The bulk of Ethiopia Airlines’ planes are wide-bodied liners from the Boeing and Airbus range. 

The fleet is constantly updated with planes being  exchanged every six-and-a-half years.

Somehow SAA has to change its message from “ah, if only”  to becoming the Little Red Engine saying: “I think I can.”

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This will enable authorities to seek the extradition of the Gupta brothers, the Indian businessmen alleged to be the architects of state capture during the Presidency of Jacob Zuma.

The  office  of Justice Minister Michael Masutha says the treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters with the United Arab Emirates will enable the two countries to assist each other in the investigation and prosecution of crimes.

The Gupta brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh fled to the UAE city of Dubai earlier this year as criminal investigations into alleged corruption accelerated after their friend and ally, former president Jacob Zuma, lost his grip on power.

They have since been spotted in both Dubai and the country of their birth, India.

Multiple charges have been laid against members of the Gupta family.

The Guptas asked to cross examine witnesses who implicated them before the commission of inquiry into state capture headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

He’s refused their request to do this outside South Africa because they fear arrest if they return.

Democratic Alliance shadow minister of public enterprises Natasha Mazzone says the Guptas are fast running out of places to hide as they can now face extradition to finally answer for State Capture.

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Duduzne says the proceeds – expected to be around 55 million euros – will go to a program creating sustainable jobs for young people.

Allegations of corruption and shady deals continue to swirl around the Guptas.

A month ago Duduzane Zuma insisted he had no regrets about his ties to the wealthy Indian family.

Accusations of state capture leveled against them include those from within the ANC’s senior ranks.

Duduzane said he would partner up with the Guptas again.

Leaked eMails show Duduzane was deeply immersed with the Guptas. They helped him buy an expensive house in Dubai  and paid for his wedding.

He was a director of 21 Gupta companies but has resigned from the boards of most of them in the past year. He is still a director of seven of their companies that seem to have stopped trading.

South African banks have closed their accounts with the Gupta firms citing ethical considerations.

British public relations firm Bell Pottinger’s been expelled from the professional PR organization in that country because of unethical work they did polishing the Guptas’ image.

Duduzane did not specify why he’s selling his Oakbay shares, neither did he give details about how the youth programme he was proposing will operate.

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He tells a rally that he won’t think about postponing the poll scheduled for August 8.

Kenya’s High Court has ruled that the country’s electoral commission must delay printing ballot papers .

It found irregularities in the tender process with the Dubai-based firm contracted to do this.

President Uhuru Kenyatta accuses the judiciary of misusing its independence and playing into the hands of his opponent Raila Odinga’s National Super Alliance.

Odinga alleges Kenyatta has financial ties with the printing firm.

The president denies any wrongdoing and calls the opposition action intimidatory.

He insists it won’t be allowed to change the election date.

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It’s  the second attack in weeks after five years of inactivity in this seaway patrolled by a European Union naval force.

ends intro

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations which coordinates the management of merchant ships and yachts in the Gulf of Aden area says a dhow en route to Bosasso from Dubai has been hijacked in the vicinity of Socotra Island.

The  coordinating body cannot confirm the location of the vessel, which identified as Al Kausar.

An investigation into exactly what happened is underway.

The vessel attacked by Somali pirates is understood to be heading towards the Somali coast.

Somali pirates seized an oil tanker last  month but released it after a clash with a marine force from neighboring Puntland.

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Heavy gunfire’s erupted near the presidential palace in the capital, Banjul, reports say.

With President Yahya Jammeh abroad, soldiers of the presidential guard in The Gambia have tried to stage a coup.

Details are thin from military and diplomatic sources in the west African country entirely enveloped by Senegal.

They say the attackers have been beaten back.

Jammeh himself seized power in a coup in 1994.

He leads one of the most repressive regimes in Africa.

Two years ago the man who claims he can cure HIV/AIDS by the laying on of hands boasted he would rule for a billion years.

It’s not sure where Jammeh is at present.

Some media say he’s in France. Others report he’s in Dubai.

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