By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former MEC of Agriculture and rural development in Free State Mosebenzi Zwane has been granted R10,000 bail by the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court in a case related to the Vrede dairy farm scandal.
Zwane appeared with former Sahara Computers employee Ugeshni Govender and director of Gupta-owned company Islandsite Investments Ronica Ragavan.
The controversial Vrede dairy farm project in which public funds meant for black emerging farmers was allegedly looted was undertaken by the Free State department of agriculture about a decade ago.
Govender was also granted bail of R10 000. Ragavan was warned to appear again in court in November because she was previously charged over the Estina dairy farm project back in 2018.
In his bail arguments, Zwane’s lawyer said he was not a flight risk and requested that he be released on bail of R10 000. His lawyer also informed the court that the MP intended to plead not guilty to the charges against him.
The trio faces charges of fraud, theft, money laundering and corruption in connection with the Estina dairy farm project in the Free State, where more than R200 million of public funds that were meant to empower black farmers were looted.
The dairy project has been embroiled in allegations of state capture after it emerged that it was a front for money laundering and the source of funds for the Guptas’ lavish wedding at Sun City resort in 2013.
The spokesperson for the NPA’s Investigating Directorate, Sindisiwe Seboka, said a total of 15 people were implicated in the case and more arrests were expected.
“On 05 July 2012, Estina…entered into an agreement with the Free State Department of Agriculture to establish and implement a dairy farm project in Vrede to benefit previously disadvantaged farmers and to uplift the people of the Vrede area. In terms of the agreement, Estina was to provide a capital injection of R228 million. Paras Dairy – a company incorporated in India – was presented as Estina’s partner in the Vrede Dairy Project.
“In the charge sheet, the Investigating Directorate alleges that [in] terms of the agreement between the Department of Agriculture and Estina, the beneficiaries were to own 51% of the AGRIBEE entity and the remaining shares were to belong to Estina.
“The agreement further stipulated that the department was to contribute R342 million…[and] Estina received R280 million from July 2012 to April 2014. Investigations also revealed that no proper tender procedures were followed with regards the decision to fund the proposed Vrede Dairy Project. Estina did not adhere to its obligations in terms of the agreement as only the department paid its contribution into bank accounts held by Estina,” Seboka said.
The case has been postponed to 2 November 2022.
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who chaired the state capture commission, recommended that law enforcement agencies investigate suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and Zwane to establish whether they contravened any law in the roles they played in the Estina dairy farm project.
Magashule was the premier of the Free State at the time of the project.
The commission found that all role players in the project did the bidding of the Gupta family without any care for public funds or poor residents who should have benefited from the dairy farm project, as Zwane had promised them.