Oh well, I can't say that I am in any way surprised! It was only a matter of time before cracks would show. I am heartened to see though, that countries do have a say in the matter regarding who the diplomat is that stays in the country. Too many movies I guess, where the bad guy is a diplomat (or the son of a diplomat) and the police's efforts are frustrated, by the playing of "a diplomat" card. Strange though, in the movies they never seem to be kicked out of the country! Perhaps that will become a story line in another movie at some point!
Regards
Nikki
October 08 2006 at 11:26AM
By Peter Fabricius and Own Correspondent
A top South African diplomat has been kicked out of Britain after allegedly whisking one of his sons out of the country to shield him from a police investigation, according to diplomatic sources.
Another son had earlier been sent home for alleged armed robbery. The senior official at South Africa's high commission in London was given 28 days to leave and is due back in South Africa on October 17, according to sources close to the high commission. The official's name is known to The Sunday Independent but cannot be published to protect the identity of his sons, who are minors.
Ronnie Mamoepa, the spokesperson for the department of foreign affairs, confirmed on Saturday that the official had been recalled "by mutual consent between the British and South African governments. "This was occasioned by the misdemeanours of his sons," Mamoepa said. He added that the recall had nothing to do with the diplomat trying to evade police investigation of his son. "As far as the department of foreign affairs is concerned, the official being recalled is still an official in good standing. "However, according to sources at the South African high commission in London, British authorities asked the South African government last year to send home the diplomat's elder son, aged 17, after police caught him and some of his friends allegedly holding up a youth at knifepoint and robbing him of his MP3 player. These sources said that this year the diplomat's family fell foul of the law again when British police sought his second son, 15, who had been caught at school with a spray gun. This time the diplomat flew back to South Africa with his son before police could question him. When the diplomat returned from South Africa, British authorities asked the South African government to recall him for this alleged attempt to defeat the ends of justice, these sources said. The diplomat confirmed in a telephone interview on Saturday that he had been recalled. Asked to comment on the claims that he was being recalled because he had tried to frustrate the police investigation of his son, he insisted that he had cleared his decision to return his son to South Africa with Lindiwe Mabuza, the high commissioner in London, and Ayanda Ntsaluba, the director-general of foreign affairs.
Asked if the British authorities had taken this into account before acting against him, he said: "I don't know how fair their procedures are. "He then referred all further enquires to the department. Sources at the high commission said that Mabuza had tried hard to stop the diplomat from being recalled. However, a source in the legal section of the department said there was nothing that they could do: "If a country has decided that it doesn't want you, there is nothing much we can do but advise you to pack up and come back home.
"Another senior official in the department said that the alleged offences that Britain presented to the South African government were serious enough that the government had no choice but to agree to recall the diplomat. The diplomat and his sons enjoyed diplomatic immunity from prosecution in Britain but under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a host country may declare a diplomat "persona non grata" and ask his government to recall him without giving reasons. Sources close to the diplomat said he was "utterly devastated because he had been looking forward to returning to South Africa only at the end of 2007 when the term of his boss, Mabuza, also expires".
The diplomat had been posted at South Africa's London mission since 2001. His posting was originally scheduled to end in July this year but had been extended after a strong recommendation by Mabuza, sources said. Some London high commission staff, however, seemed relieved at the diplomat's departure.They alleged he had shown a dictatorial style in his dealings with staff, so much so that he had acquired the nickname "Mugabe".
This article was originally published on page 1 of Sunday Independent on October 08, 2006
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