UAE royals land at SA military base

Cape Town — Members of the United Arab Emirates (UAE’s) royal family discreetly landed at Bulembu Airport, in Bhisho, this week, along with an entourage of 500 people coming with them, reports said.

According to News24, the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan landed on the R20 million runway he built using his own money.

The visitors from the UAE will stay in the Eastern Cape for two weeks, indicating their intention to celebrate Eid in SA, the report said.

“We accepted 500 people in the Eastern Cape since Sunday. This is because the president brought his family and staff, including protectors, doctors and entertainers. On Wednesday alone, we had 15 air traffic movements at the airport,” a government official was quoted as saying.

“I can confirm that there has been no single incident since Sunday, and we did not compromise any air traffic regulations,” the official added.

The Citizen reported that it is common practice for arrangements to be made for the aircraft of heads of state to land at military airports when they arrive in South Africa.

UAE Royals, President Arrive in South Africa for Visit to Exclusive Luxury Game Reserve https://t.co/5Uc5tYm49w pic.twitter.com/3vR2fzUgcp

— Adekunle Owolabi ?????? (@iamkstunt) April 20, 2023

The arrival of Al Nahyan comes after the UAE turned down SA’s request to extradite the two Gupta brothers — Atul and Rajesh — accused of orchestrating industrial-scale corruption.

“We learnt with shock and dismay that the extradition hearing had been concluded in the Dubai Court on the 13 February 2023 and our extradition request was unsuccessful,” said Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.

Despite the setback, Lamola expressed his determination to bring them back to the country.

“We will still bring the Guptas back to South Africa. It might take some time, but we are not going to stop all the processes that we have said are going to unfold to ensure that they are brought back to South Africa,” EWN quoted Lamola as saying.