The fraud and corruption case related to the controversial R280 million Estina Dairy farm project has been transferred to the Bloemfontein High Court from the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Wednesday.
\nThe accused that appeared in the regional court this morning are:
\n\u2022\tFormer Mineral Resources Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane.
\n\u2022\tFormer Free State head of Department for Rural Development (FSDoRD), Peter Thabethe.
\n\u2022\tFormer Chief Financial Officer, Seipati Dhlamini.
\n\u2022\tFormer Chief Director District Services, Takisi Masiteng.
\n\u2022\tFormer Sahara employee, Ugeshni Govender.
\n\u2022\tIslandsite former Director, Ronica Ragavan.
\n\u2022\tEstina Director, Kamal Vasram, was added to the case, as well as eight companies.<\/p>\n
According to the National Prosecuting Authority Investigating Directorate (NPA ID) spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka, the accused face charges of contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), fraud, corruption and money laundering emanating from the \u201calleged looting of the Free State Department of Agriculture through a company called Estina\u201d.
\nSeboka explained that in 2012, Estina and the Free State Agriculture Department entered into an agreement to establish and implement a dairy farm project for the benefit of emerging and previously disadvantaged farmers in the Vrede area.
\n\u201cIn terms of the agreement, Estina was to provide a capital injection of R228 million. Paras Dairy \u2013 a company incorporated in India \u2013 was presented as Estina\u2019s partner in the Vrede Dairy Project.
\n\u201cThe agreement further stipulated that the department was to contribute R342 million including VAT over a period of three years. Estina received R280 million from July 2012 to April 2014.
\n\u201cInvestigations also revealed that no proper tender procedures were followed with regards 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,\u201d Seboka said.
\nThe accused are expected to next appear in the Bloemfontein High Court on 25 January 2023. <\/p>\n
Source: South African Government News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The fraud and corruption case related to the controversial R280 million Estina Dairy farm project has been transferred to the Bloemfontein High Court from the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Wednesday. The accused that appeared in the regional court this morning are: \u2022 Former Mineral Resources Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane. \u2022 Former Free State head of Department … <\/p>\n