According to Bheki Cele Tanzania "requested" that "prisoners" be transported on a privately chartered plane.
To quote "Minister of Police Bheki Cele told Parliament the request to transport prisoners on a privately charted aircraft came at the behest of the Tanzanian government."
What he could have more accurately told MPs is "I am clueless about international law and diplomatic protocols."
South African sovereignty ends at the South African border line. South African state institutions such as the police, therefore, have no authority whatsoever beyond the borderline. That applies to each and every country in the world.
In short, SAPS cannot effect an arrest on Tanzanian soil. SAPS cannot take custody of any person whether South African or not on foreign soil, e.g. Tanzanian soil. The only places where South African sovereignty is recognized outside of the borders are the premises of accredited embassies, high commissions, and consulates.
However even if Bester and that oh-so-beautiful woman were placed in an embassy and SAPS took custody of them there, they would still need to cross sovereign Tanzanian ground to get out of the country, so that is not practical at all.
Secondly, Bester is not was never a convicted prisoner in Tanzania. So Cele should be made to understand that while in Tanzania Bester was not an escapee. He was just another illegal immigrant.
That gave Tanzanian authorities the right to arrest him and his chick BASED ON TANZANIAN LAW. Tanzanian state institutions were the only ones with the authority to take custody of him on Tanzanian soil.
In short Tanzanian police could effect an arrest. Tanzania had the right to try the duo for any crimes committed in Tanzania before handing them over to South Africa.
However, like most countries, Tanzania chooses to deal with illegal immigrants administratively by just deporting them.
Here is the key thing that Cele needs to understand, deportation from Tanzania is affected by the Tanzanian state using its state personnel, in this case, the Tanzanian Immigration Department. No country in the world uses the personnel of a foreign state for functions such as deportation.
Deportees from Europe come accompanied by immigration officials from the deporting country. Therefore insinuations that Tanzanian officials wanted a free ride to South Africa are nothing but ignorant insults.
That is Tanzanian Immigration Department officials needed to take custody of deportees and hand them over only when they arrive at the receiving country's port of entry.
That procedure is an international standard. It is not Tanzania asking for a free plane ride from South Africa.
In fact, Tanzania did South Africa a very very big favour. The norm is that deportees are sent back to the country they ARRIVED FROM.
Bester and Nandipha were travelling by road. So chances are they entered Tanzania via Malawi at Mbeya or via Zambia at Tunduma. Although they were being assisted by a Mozambican, there is no chance they would have travelled through the violent Cabo Delgado or Nassa provinces which are the Mozambican provinces that border Tanzania.
So if Tanzania had wanted to be technically correct, they would have insisted on handing Nandipha and Bester to Malawi, or Zambia. Then they would then have had to be handed to Mozambique or Zimbabwe before making it back to South Africa.
So Tanzania did South Africa a huge favour by politely asking, instead of invading Tanzania with their police, if they could send a private jet to expedite the deportation. Otherwise, they could have had to buy commercial tickets out of Dar es Salam.
I do not think airlines would have agreed as Bester had no valid documentation. Not to mention the complication of arranging transit visas as there are almost no direct flights between SA and Tanzania. A transit visa for Bester would have been impossible.
Yes, members of a state armed wing entering another country IS AN INVASION. That is why, on borders like between China and India, India and Pakistani, Israel and Lebanon, or Israel and Syria we regularly read of violent clashes, that are caused by police or soldiers from one side straying onto the other, leading to exchanges of live fire.
So Tanzania was simply asking South Africa to follow international law and diplomatic protocols.
I know South Africans like to think they are more special than their African brothers. However when contrasted with how Dubai handled the matter of deporting the Guptas, how Tanzania handled the Thabo Bester should have taught South Africa a very important lesson that a brother is a brother. If Bester had made it out of Sub-Saharan Africa South Africa would never have got him back as easily as they did.
