The NPA’s Independent Directorate spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka, says the state has always been ready to prosecute the matter in the Free State High Court where Mosebenzi Zwane and former head of the Agriculture Department, Peter Mbana Thabebthe, face varying charges. Zwane was charged alongside 15 others,

He and a group of former government officials and private business people stand accused of fraud, corruption, and money laundering in connection with the controversial Estina project.

The pre-trial between the state and the accused was postponed on Wednesday 25 January, to 21 April 2023 to allow suspects to respond to the state’s correspondence and for case management.

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“The case was postponed in the interim to allow suspects to respond to 212(b)s [enquiries pertaining to documents] which the state furnished to the accused and further according to the jurisdiction of the particular area to also respond to questions in writing that all of the accused and the defence have to respond to by 27 January 2023 in order to basically get an indication of how ready and how prepared the matter is to go for trial,” Seboka added.

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.

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Zwane, who is also an ANC Member of Parliament in the National Assembly, said he is happy that he will be given a chance to say what he knows about the case relating to the Estina project. He said it’s a correct decision that the matter was brought to the fore so that he can reply and tell his side of the story.

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OFM News previously reported that 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 being rendered. The commission heard how Estina only had R16 in its bank account on 4 July 2012, days before the provincial government deposited an amount of R30 million into this account.

The accused in the matter include former Free State head of the department for Rural Development, Peter Thabethe; former Chief Financial Officer, Seipati Dhlamini; former Chief Director District Services Takisi Masiteng; Estina Director Kamal Vasram; and eight companies.

The accused join Zwane, former Sahara employee Ugeshni Govender, and Islandsite former Director Ronica Ragavan.

“On 5 July 2012, Estina (Pty) (Ltd) entered into an agreement with the department 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.

The agreement further stipulated that the department was to contribute R342 million, including VAT, over a period of three years," Seboka added.

The Estina Company allegedly received R280 million from July 2012 to April 2014.

"Investigations also revealed that no proper tender procedures were followed with regards to 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 further added.

Some of the accused in this Estina Vrede case also stand accused in the Estina adjacent case where R25 million was also allegedly looted from the Free State Provincial coffers.

OFM News