Mosebenzi Zwane, the former minister of mineral resources, has been released on R10 000 bail following his appearance at the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court on Wednesday for fraud, theft, money-laundering and corruption.
The charges stem from the Vrede dairy farm scandal. Zwane was arrested on Wednesday morning alongside a former employee of Sahara, Ugeshni Govender.
Another accused in the matter, Ronica Ragavan, who is a former director of Gupta-owned company Islandsite Investments, was given a warning to appear before the magistrate while her co-accused were arrested. This as she had already been arrested in 2018.
National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) investigating directorate (ID) spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka, said in a statement: “Former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane appeared before the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court this morning along with former Sahara employee Ugeshni Govender.
“Ronica Ragavan, who is a former director of Islandsite, was warned to appear as she was previously arrested in this matter in 2018. They were arrested on charges pertaining to the R280-million Estina Dairy farm project. The trio appeared on charges of fraud, theft, corruption, and money-laundering.”
It is alleged that in his capacity as the MEC for agriculture in the Free State, Zwane and his co-accused plundered millions of rands meant to empower black farmers in the province. Evidence deposed in the State Capture Report suggests that the project was hijacked by the infamous Gupta brothers with the assistance of senior government officials.
“The arrests arise from the alleged looting of the Free State department of agriculture through a company called Estina. On July 5 2012, Estina entered into an agreement with the Free State department of agriculture to establish and implement a dairy farm project in Vrede to benefit previously disadvantaged farmers and uplift the people of the Vrede area.
“In terms of the agreement, Estina was to provide a capital injection of R228-million. Paras Dairy [a company incorporated in India] was presented as Estina’s partner in the Vrede Dairy project,” said Seboka.
According to Seboka, the agreement between the department and Estina stipulated that the beneficiaries would retain 51% of the AGRIBEE entity while the remaining shares would go to Estina.
Seboka said the agreement also contained a “rent-free lease clause” to the favour of Estina for a period of 99 years.
“The agreement further stipulated that the department was to contribute R342-million including VAT [value-added tax] 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.”
Seboka said the Vrede Dairy project was actually designed to extract funds from the state.
“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 the next court date.”
Reiterating the NPA’s commitment to fighting corruption, advocate Andrea Johnson, head of the IDinvestigating directorate, said: “The enrolment of this 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.”
Also read: Mosebenzi Zwane to appear in court after early-morning arrest
For more crime stories click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
