Mosebenzi Zwane, a former minister of mineral resources, has appeared in court in Bloemfontein on suspicion of fraud and corruption in connection with the abandoned R280 million Estina Dairy Farm Project.
Zwane, a current member of parliament, appeared in court with Ronica Ragavan, a former director of Islandsite, and Ugeshni Govender, a former employee of Sahara.
When the project was approved in 2012, the previous minister served as the MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Free State.
The arrests and the court appearances, according to Advocate Andrea Johnson, director of the National Prosecuting Authority Investigating Directorate (NPA ID), are another step in the unit’s campaign to bring individuals suspected of aiding and abetting State capture to justice.
“The inclusion of this case shows the ID’s dedication to dealing with State capture offenders. The Free State’s citizens should be reminded by this case that this issue was not ignored.
However, it takes time to conduct an investigation and compile sufficient evidence to bring about the prosecution of such intricate situations.
The lives of the individuals and communities that the Vrede Dairy Project was meant to enhance and empower were wrecked by it. The matter’s enrolling brings justice one step closer to those who are said to have been harmed by the accused’s unlawful behavior, according to Johnson.
While investigations found that the whole scheme “was structured to extort monies from the State,” NPA ID spokeswoman Sindisiwe Seboka claimed that the programme was intended to help beginning farmers in the Free State.
“Estina…entered into an agreement with the Free State Department of Agriculture on July 5, 2012, to build and carry out a dairy farm project in Vrede to assist formerly underprivileged farmers and to elevate the local populace. Estina was required under the agreement to contribute R228 million in capital. It was announced that Estina’s partner in the Vrede Dairy Project is the Indian business Paras Dairy.
“According to the charge sheet, the Investigating Directorate claims that the beneficiaries were supposed to possess 51% of the AGRIBEE corporation and Estina was supposed to own the remaining shares under the provisions of the agreement between the Department of Agriculture and Estina.
“The agreement additionally provided that the department had to provide an R342 million contribution…
From July 2012 to April 2014, Estina got R280 million. Investigations also showed that the decision to finance the projected Vrede Dairy Project was made without using the correct tendering processes.
Only the department deposited its payment into Estina’s bank accounts, hence Estina did not uphold its end of the bargain, according to Seboka.
All three defendants were granted R10,000 bond in this case, and state prosecutors did not object to the request.