By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The corruption case against former Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane and his 16 co-accused has been transferred to the Bloemfontein High Court.
Zwane and his co-accused on Wednesday, appeared briefly in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court in connection with the controversial R280 million Estina dairy farm project in the Free State.
The accused that appeared in the regional court this morning are:
- Former Mineral Resources Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane.
- Former Free State head of Department for Rural Development (FSDoRD), Peter Thabethe.
- Former Chief Financial Officer, Seipati Dhlamini.
- Former Chief Director District Services, Takisi Masiteng.
- Former Sahara employee, Ugeshni Govender.
- Islandsite former Director, Ronica Ragavan.
- Estina Director, Kamal Vasram, was added to the case, as well as eight companies.
The court heard that the State had disclosed the contents of the docket and that the matter was being transferred to the High Court.
Zwane and Govender were both arrested in late September and released on bail of R10 000 each. The State did not oppose their bail applications.
Ragavan was warned to re-appear in court on Wednesday. She was previously arrested in this matter in 2018.
The Estina dairy project has been embroiled in allegations of state capture after it emerged that the entire project was allegedly designed to extract funds from the state and was a front for money laundering and the source of funds for the Guptas’ lavish wedding at Sun City resort in 2013.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority Investigating Directorate (NPA ID) spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka, the accused face charges of contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), fraud, corruption and money laundering emanating from the “alleged looting of the Free State Department of Agriculture through a company called Estina”.
Seboka explained that in 2012, Estina and the Free State Agriculture Department entered into an agreement to establish and implement a dairy farm project for the benefit of emerging and previously disadvantaged farmers in 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.
“The agreement further stipulated that the department was to contribute R342 million including VAT over a period of three years. 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 accused are expected to next appear in the Bloemfontein High Court on 25 January 2023.