By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Constitutional Court on Friday threw out a series of last-ditch bids from the accused to quash the Gupta-linked Nulane Investments fraud case, paving the way for the prosecution to proceed again.
The case relates to allegations of fraud and money-laundering around a R24.9-million contract awarded to Nulane Investments, a company linked with the Gupta network.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) previously discharged the accused, in what was a massive blow for the State.
However the Constitutional Court dismissed their application, saying it had no chance of success and did not raise constitutional issues.
The Nulane case goes back to 2011, when the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development hired Nulane Investments to do a feasibility study for the Mohoma Mobung project, aimed at helping emerging farmers.
The accused include Iqbal Sharma, a former Transnet board member and close Gupta associate, his brother-in-law Dinesh Patel from Islandsite Investments, Ronica Ragavan from another Gupta company, former department head Peter Thabethe, and chief financial officer Seipati Dhlamini.
They face charges of fraud, money laundering, and breaking public finance rules.
Meanwhile outgoing NPA boss Shamila Batohi faced criticism for failing to secure prosecutions in major State Capture matters, particularly involving the Gupta brothers, whom South Africa (SA) failed to extradite from the United Arab Emirates after a Dubai court rejected the country’s request on technical grounds, including problems with arrest warrants and jurisdiction, with authorities only learning of the outcome months later – a delay that effectively allowed the brothers to avoid being brought back to face charges.
Batohi said the criticism was justified, and revealed that South Africa would soon make another application to bring the Gupta brothers back to the country to face the law.