Johannesburg - Former minister of mineral resources Mosebenzi Zwane has appeared in the Bloemfontein High Court and the R280m Estina dairy farm fraud and corruption case has been postponed to next year.
The trial is set to take place from August 5 to September 13, 2024.
According to Sindisiwe Seboka, the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka Zwane and 15 co-accused face charges of contravening the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), fraud, corruption, and money laundering.
They appeared on charges emanating from alleged looting of the Free State Department of Agriculture through a company called Estina.
It’s alleged that Estina received R280m 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 honour its obligations in terms of the agreement, as only the department paid its contribution into the bank accounts held by Estina,” said Seboka.
Earlier this month, in a matter that is related to the alleged procurement fraud involving R24.9m paid from November 2011 to April 2012 by the Free State Department of Agriculture to Nulane Investment 204 (Pty) Ltd, a company of which Iqbal Sharma was both a director and shareholder, was denied leave to appeal against the acquittal and S174 application in relation to the State versus Peter Thabethe and others matter in which there was some cause for the Gupta brothers to be extradited.
According to the NPA, the money was purportedly paid to Nulane to conduct a feasibility study for the Free State’s flagship Mohoma Mobung project on the basis that Nulane had unique skills to perform the work.
In 2018, now suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane found that the Free State Department of Agriculture failed to manage and monitor implementation of the terms of agreement with the implementing agent, Estina (Pty) Ltd, in relation to budget evaluation, expenditure control, and Estina’s performance.
Mkhwebane could not determine if the prices for goods and services procured –specifically expenses in respect of construction, processing equipment, procurement of cattle, and administration costs – had been inflated.
Mkhwebane also observed in concurrence with the Accountant General that the head of department did not follow normal procurement processes, that the payments to Estina were not in line with Treasury prescripts, that the agreement between the department and Estina seemed invalid, and that the department failed to comply with provisions for the Public Finance Management Act, which prescribes the process to be followed in cases of alleged financial misconduct.
The Star