Former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning with two others on charges pertaining to the R280-million Estina dairy farm project.
Zwane, former Sahara employee Ugeshni Govender and former Islandsite director Ronica Ragavan are facing charges of fraud, theft, corruption, money laundering.
Investigating Directorate (ID) spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka says the arrests arise from the alleged looting of the Free State Department of Agriculture coffers through a company called Estina about 10 years ago.
It is the state’s case that on July 5, 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 uplift residents in the area in general.
“In terms of the agreement, Estina was to provide a capital injection of R228-million,” said Seboka in a statement issued after the court appearance.
Paras Dairy, a company incorporated in India, was presented as Estina’s partner in the dairy project.
The state further alleges that according to the terms of the agreement between the department of agriculture and Estina, the beneficiaries were to own 51 percent of a special purpose vehicle to run the project.
The remaining shares would belong to Estina.
“The said agreement also contained a rent-free lease clause in favour of Estina for a period of 99 years,” Seboka said.
The 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.
“Investigations also revealed that no proper tender procedures were followed with regard 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,” she explained.
The investigations have revealed that the entire Vrede Dairy Project was designed to extract funds from the state.
The other accused previously arrested in 2018 will be summoned to appear on November 2, the next court date.
Zwane and Govender were each granted bail of R10 000.
Ragavan was warned to appear on the next court day as she was previously arrested in this matter in 2018 before the case was provisionally withdrawn from the court roll.
ID head Advocate Andrea Johnson is quoted in the statement as saying the enrolment of the case demonstrates the commitment of the ID to deal with perpetrators of state capture.
“This case should serve to remind the people of the Free State that this matter was not forgotten.
“It does however take long to investigate and put together appropriate charges for prosecuting such complex cases.
“The Vrede Dairy Project destroyed the lives of the people and communities it was supposed to empower and uplift.
“The enrolment of the matter is a step closer to delivering justice to the people who were alleged to have been prejudiced by the criminal conduct of the accused,” said Johnson.
The state did not oppose bail. – Staff Reporter