This is as the state revived its initial Estina 2018 case back to light with new suspects, including Mosebenzi Zwane, appearing in court alongside two co-accused who were also part of the initial matter which was provisionally withdrawn pending investigations. 

Zwane, who is currently a Member of Parliament (MP) at the National Assembly (NA) under the party regalia of the ANC, today appeared in court alongside two of his co-accused, namely Ronica Ragavan and Ugeshni Govender, a former Sahara employee - a company owned by the Guptas.

Zwane and Govender were released on bail of R10 000 each by Magistrate Estelle de Lange, setting aside a plea by the state prosecutor, Peter Serunye, that Zwane is released on R20 000 due to the seriousness of the case. De Lange then postponed the matter. The case involves R288 million which was siphoned off the project, leaving over 80 farmers from Vrede in the Phumelele Local Municipality in the province in limbo. She postponed it to 2 November 2022 with more suspects expected to be added. Ragavan and Govender were also the suspects in a previous Estina matter in 2018, which was provisionally withdrawn, pending further investigations.

Zwane and Govender are said to have handed themselves over to the authorities after fully cooperating with the police who notified them about the warrants of arrest due to their alleged involvement. According to the National Prosecution Authority's (NPA) Independent Investigation (ID) spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka, Zwane is charged with fraud, theft, money laundering and corruption linked to the case where R288 million was earmarked for the project.

“For starters, bail is not punitive. We basically tried to make sure that the person comes or get the attendance of that particular accused, and we did not even oppose bail for this particular accused, including the former MEC and minister of Mineral Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, so the quantum whether it should be R10 000, was for the court to make its decision and we shall abide by that. This is the 2018 case that was provisionally withdrawn and is now reinstated. Ronica Ragavan is part of the group of people who were arrested in 2018. We didn’t even hear the bail hearing for her because she was warned to appear. She will then appear with the other accused in the next court appearance. So basically, in a nutshell, the other persons in our indictment before the court will be requested to appear in the next appearance or warned to come and appear. That matter will then proceed through the normal pre-trial measures and will eventually be transferred to the High Court,” Seboka added. 

Magistrate de Lange relaxed Zwane’s bail conditions. He is allowed to travel outside the country in agreement with the investigating officer (IO) and the same conditions were set for all other accused.

“The state did not oppose bail. Prosecutor Serunye told Magistrate de Lange that the state opted not to oppose bail because there is no evidence that these accused will influence or undermine the criminal justice system, or even intimidate witnesses. There is no evidence of the likelihood of the applicants endangering the people or even trying to evade the trial or intimidate witnesses or destroy evidence. There is no evidence that the release of these suspects on bail will disturb the public peace. They handed themselves to the authorities after being contacted on short notice,” Serunye adds.

Zwane and former Free State officials, including then MEC for Agriculture, Mamiki Qabathe, were implicated by whistle-blowers and the DA's Free State chairperson, Roy Jankielsohn.

OFM News previously reported that over R220 million earmarked for Estina, to assist 80 upcoming farmers in Vrede, was looted from the province without beneficiaries seeing a single cent. Testimonies made to the Zondo Commission, chaired by Raymond Zondo, put to light how the provincial department made a R30 million up-front payment to Estina without any work being done or services rendered. The commission has heard how Estina’s account only had R16 in its bank account on 4 July 2012, days before the provincial government deposited an amount of R30 million into its account.

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