In May 2019, during his last days in office, Lamola’s predecessor, Michael Masutha, ordered that Chang be extradited to Mozambique. But soon after replacing Masutha, Lamola took the unusual step of challenging Masutha’s decision in court on the grounds that the decision had been made without due consideration of all the relevant facts. In particular, he argued that it was unlikely Chang would face justice in Mozambique as he had not been indicted there, at that time.