SA transport officials detail flight plan for aircraft carrying 49 Afrikaners relocating to US
JOHANNESBURG - South African transport officials have detailed the flight plan for an aircraft carrying 49 Afrikaners relocating to the United States (US) as part of Washington's refugee programme.
The private charter flight finally took off late Sunday night after a three-hour delay that kept Texas-based Omni Airways on the tarmac longer than expected.
The cause of the delay is unknown at this stage.
ALSO READ: Almost 50 white Afrikaners on board flight to US as part of resettlement programme
This is the first group of Afrikaners who have been admitted to the US under refugee status after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing them to resettle amid a disinformation campaign about racial laws in South Africa.
The Department of Transport said there is limited leeway to allow for delays because a chartered flight has to follow a strict flight plan.
Department spokesperson Collen Msibi said the application for the use of a chartered plane is processed by the International Air Services Council.
He said these plans are made to ensure that there are no clashes in the use of airspace.
Despite the delay, the aircraft is believed to have kept to its planned approved route.
'It goes to Dakar, where they have to refuel. I think they are going to spend about an hour refuelling and then from Dakar then they head to Washington, Dallas airport in Washington DC, and thereafter, the flight proceeds to Texas.'
Msibi said the department has not received any other application for a similar process yet.
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The Ruling A Blow to Prosecutorial Credibility Presiding over the matter, Judge Phillip Loubser was unequivocal: " The prosecution has not found reasonable doubt, or at all, that there was a valid or lawful request from South Africa for the extradition of Ms Cholota from the United States. It follows that if there was no valid extradition request, then the extradition itself was without any basis and, therefore, unlawful ." The National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) failure to adhere to the legally mandated process in the extradition request of Moroadi Cholota reveals not merely a procedural blunder, but an institutional failing. By initiating the extradition request instead of the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, as explicitly required by law, the NPA not only invalidated its case but compromised the integrity of South Africa's justice system on the international stage. The NPA will contend that this is not the first time it has led to extradition cases and that this is the first instance in which a case has been registered in this regard. It will furthermore argue that it is appealing the Schultz case, which constitutes a legal precedent. Notwithstanding this counter, the NPA cannot deny that this deviation from legal protocol suggests either gross incompetence or a willful disregard for constitutional processes, raising serious ethical questions about accountability within the NPA. Moreover, by allegedly providing misleading or incomplete information to U.S. authorities, the South African state stands accused of deception — a charge that, if substantiated, undermines its moral authority and diplomatic credibility, and reveals a prosecutorial body more concerned with performance politics than with the pursuit of justice. The unlawful handling of Cholota's extradition reflects a disturbing pattern in which the state weaponises legal instruments while bypassing constitutional safeguards. This erosion of legal integrity in favour of political expediency suggests the NPA, whether by design or acquiescence, has become a tool in internal power struggles rather than a guardian of justice. In failing to uphold the rule of law and misleading an international partner in the process, the NPA exposes a justice system teetering between institutional collapse and captured governance. The court's ruling on the lack of jurisdiction underscores a foundational pillar of constitutional and international law, that the legitimacy of a trial is inseparable from the legality of the accused's presence before the court. In Moroadi Cholota's case, the unlawful initiation of the extradition process rendered her transfer to South Africa constitutionally defective, thereby stripping the court of jurisdiction to try her. Any attempt to prosecute her under such conditions would not only violate Section 35 of the Constitution, which guarantees fair trial rights and due process but also contravene international legal norms governing extradition and state sovereignty. This ruling affirms that procedural integrity is not merely a technicality, but a substantive requirement of justice; the state cannot bypass lawful channels to secure an accused and still claim the authority to prosecute. To do so would be to legitimise executive overreach, dismantle legal safeguards, and invite the erosion of the rule of law under the guise of criminal justice. Systemic Indictment of the NPA The judgment handed down by the Free State High Court should not be read in isolation; it must be understood as a judicial demand for accountability, procedural discipline, and institutional humility. The NPA's failed prosecution of Ms Moroadi Cholota is, regrettably, not an isolated mishap . In a 2023 article co-authored with Paul M. Ngobeni (available at: " /", we called for the NPA leadership to be held accountable as we critically examined eight high-profile cases pursued by the NPA under the rubric of its ' state capture ' prosecutions. Our analysis revealed a pattern of endemic institutional failures, particularly under the leadership of the current National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Shamila Batohi. Among the most pressing concerns were the following: Politicisation of Prosecutions The NPA's alignment with factional battles in the ANC undermines its credibility. Its selective use of the Zondo Commission's findings, non-binding and inadmissible in court, has raised alarms about the weaponisation of commissions of inquiry to serve political ends. Strategic Misuse of Evidence The collapse of cases like the Estina Dairy Farm prosecution revealed the dangers of substituting public rhetoric for admissible evidence. 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Lack of Accountability and Transparency The NPA has consistently deflected public criticism, painting itself as the victim of attacks rather than accepting legitimate concerns about its performance. This erodes public confidence and corrodes prosecutorial independence. Calls for an independent oversight body to scrutinise prosecutorial decisions have gained renewed urgency. NPA's Compulsive Overreliance on Appeals – Default Mechanism As expected, the NPA informed South Africa that it intends to appeal the court's findings. While the doctrine of appeal is a constitutional provision, it is important to appreciate the context and primary intentions of the state in pursuing such an appeal. A fundamental yet under-examined pathology within the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is its compulsive reliance on appeals, not as a last resort for justice, but as a default mechanism to shield prosecutorial ineptitude. At the heart of this phenomenon lies a psychology unmoored from accountability: senior prosecutors and executive leadership pursue prolonged legal contests not at their own personal or professional expense, but through the seemingly bottomless reservoir of the public fiscus. This distance between institutional action and individual consequence fosters a culture of indifference towards both fiscal prudence and judicial efficacy. The decision to appeal, often against the weight of legal reasoning and precedent, is thus less a matter of legal necessity than a strategic deflection—an effort to postpone institutional reckoning, preserve internal reputations, and obscure prosecutorial failures. There appears to be little regard for the economic burden imposed on the state, the rights of the accused whose lives are held in indefinite legal limbo, or the broader erosion of public trust in the justice system. 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Unless the NPA undertakes urgent internal reform, beginning with depoliticised leadership appointments, independent oversight mechanisms, and full adherence to international legal procedures, its credibility will remain under siege. This case is not merely about an individual wrongfully prosecuted , but about an institution, the NPA, that appears adrift from constitutional moorings, caught between political ambition and legal obligation, often repurposed for nefarious intentions. * Clyde N.S. Ramalaine is a theologian, political analyst, lifelong social and economic justice activist, published author, poet, and freelance writer. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
