Estina Dairy Farm State Capture Inquiry

File photo of cows at the Vrede Dairy Farm Project on 12 July 2017. The farm, which was a joint private-public project between the Free State Department of Agriculture and Gupta-controlled company Estina has been in the midst of controversy after allegations of corruption and money laundering by the Gupta family emerged. Photo: Gallo Images / Rapport / Deon Raath

R106m Gupta-linked milk processing plant at Vrede Dairy redundant – DA

The DA said the Free State government would be better of not trying to ‘resuscitate a dead cow that was a victim of the corruption virus’.

Estina Dairy Farm State Capture Inquiry

File photo of cows at the Vrede Dairy Farm Project on 12 July 2017. The farm, which was a joint private-public project between the Free State Department of Agriculture and Gupta-controlled company Estina has been in the midst of controversy after allegations of corruption and money laundering by the Gupta family emerged. Photo: Gallo Images / Rapport / Deon Raath

The milk processing plant at the Gupta-linked Vrede Dairy Project remains redundant and in a state of decay, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday 16 February.

The legislature’s joint committee, which includes the public accounts and agriculture committees, established on the insistence of the DA to investigate issues relating to the Vrede Dairy Project, visited the project this week, DA MPL and leader of the opposition in the Free State legislature Roy Jankielsohn said in a statement.

Site visit of Vrede Dairy Project

The site visit confirmed the evidence of former head of the Free State agriculture and rural development department Peter Thabete at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in October 2019.

The commission heard that the R106 million spent on equipment was ineffective. After arriving from India in a state of decay, the equipment remained outdated and had visibly deteriorated further, he said.

The Free State Development Corporation, who managed the project after the withdrawal of the initial company Estina, previously informed the legislature that the processing plant would require a huge investment if it was to be revived.

R30m needed to revive project

The Agriculture and Rural Development Department had indicated that an additional excess of R30 million would be required to initiate the plant.

“It is clear that the people of the Free State were robbed of R106 million under the watch of former premier Ace Magashule, whose family members had close ties with the Guptas. The current provincial government appear to be intent on throwing more taxpayers’ money into a single plant in an attempt to justify the initial wasteful expenditure in order to protect their political head in Luthuli House,” Jankielsohn said.

Political accountability

The provincial government should rather invest in much-needed basic services and ensure that the excluded beneficiaries of the project were accommodated and assisted.

The current premier should assist investigators with information that would ensure political accountability for her predecessors in the executive committee in the provincial government who were responsible for malfeasance, instead of attempting to resuscitate a dead cow that was a victim of the corruption virus, he said.

African News Agency (ANA), editing by Jacques Keet