This is according to the state witness and former employee at Deloitte, Omri van Zyl.

He said the controversial project lacked key elements of a successful project. Van Zyl further said the 2011 failed project, which has since led to the arrests of eight suspects, including former government officials, was selected without investment, skills, or management, among others.

On the other hand, the R255 million Vrede Estina Vrede Dairy project was selected better but was not investment ready, he said.

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Van Zyl was testifying about the dealings between the so-called Gupta Lieutenant Iqbal Sharma's Nulane Investments and Deloitte.

He told the court about the meetings between the former Nulane Director, Denish Patel, and also a suspect in the trial, including communication shared via emails. He said he was shocked when he heard the department was invoiced R25 million for the project, for which Deloitte was paid R1.5 million.

Van Zyl explained to Judge Nompumelelo Gusha that the fee charged for the private sector is much higher than for government parastatals. Van Zyl also added that when dealing with municipalities they charge according to the Auditor-General's (AG) fee structure.

The case is based on allegations that R24.9 million was paid to Nulane Investments to conduct a feasibility study for the Free State Province’s flagship Mohoma Mobung project, on the basis that Nulane had unique skills to perform the work. The state alleged that Nulane Investments, however, had no employees on its books and in fact subcontracted Deloitte to produce the report. It’s alleged that the only change made to the Deloitte report was to identify Paras Dairy as a suitable implementing partner for the development of a milk processing plant in Vrede.

During the cross-examination by the defence team, Van Zyl was taken through his testimony with the defence trying to poke holes in it.

Defense lawyer Adv. Oldwage said Van Zyl gave his testimony not to his best collection of events but was helped by documents put before him by the state and investigating officers. Oldwage told Van Zyl that his testimony was problematic. The state's 11th witness told the court that he had discussed or was approached by at least three people who are also witnesses in the trial to discuss some of the events in the Nulane and Deloitte dealings.

Van Zyl could not remember much of the details, including the location where he met with Patel in Cape Town in the Western Cape.

Free State government officials and service providers stand accused of looting and stealing millions from the Free State Agriculture Department. It's alleged that officials – including Peter Mbana Thabethe, Seipati Dhlamini, and Limakatso Moorosi – allowed an illegal upfront payment of R12 million with no proper documents.

The trial is expected to be concluded on 3 March 2023.

OFM News