With the country’s attention now firmly placed on the shady dealings behind the Free State’s R255 million asbestos housing audit deal, the Vrede Dairy criminal case appears to have become a distant memory.  NPA spokesperson, Phaladi Shuping, tells OFM News’ Olebogeng Motse, they are still yet to obtain the crucial information needed for the revival of the case from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India.

When the NPA dropped the case in December 2018, the absence of this “crucial information” was cited as a reason.  It was stressed this did not signal the end of the case, and that investigators were doing all they could to revive it. The accused in that matter: former Free State Agriculture head, Peter Thabethe; General Manager for District Services at the Free State Agriculture Department, Takisi Masiteng; former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Free State Agriculture Department, Sylvia Dlamini; Estina Director, Kamal Vasram; as well as other key Gupta affiliates, Ronica Raghavan; Nazeem Howa;  Ashu Chawla; and Varun Gupta, were let off the hook in December after maintaining their innocence throughout the ordeal.

Estina entered into the agreement with the Free State Department of Agriculture to establish and implement the dairy project in Vrede, which was meant to benefit disadvantaged individuals in the area. The Department then paid over R200 million into the Estina Nedbank account. The beneficiaries never saw a cent of the money. Authorities alleged that the money made its way via a series of transactions – through the Bank of Baroda - into the accounts of the Gupta affiliates.

In a twist of events in 2020, Dlamini and Thabethe found themselves again behind bars alongside Lerato Mngomezulu, Disebo Masiteng, Mokemane Ndumo, Mahlomola Mofokeng, and Malikomo Mohapi for fraud, corruption and money laundering in a separate matter. 

The latter individual is the sole director of Rekgonne Community Projects - a company which entered into an agreement with the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2014 to implement all projects on behalf of the department for a period of two years. It's alleged money intended for the department’s projects was unlawfully paid into Rekgonne’s business accounts and the bank accounts of the accused. 

Shuping corrects information that the project was linked to the Vrede dairy farm, explaining that investigators stumbled across it whilst they were investigating the dairy farm saga.          

OFM News