Vrede dairy: No court date for DA’s bid to have beneficiaries recognised

The Democratic Alliance in the Free State’s High Court bid to turn the wheels of justice in the favour of the 80 Vrede dairy beneficiaries is yet to sit – with no official date set for proceedings.

In October 2020 the party in the province led by Roy Jankielsohn, launched their application with the Bloemfontein High Court, in an effort to compel the Free State Development Corporation (FDC) and Provincial Agriculture Department to recognise, verify and appoint the beneficiaries who despite having a 51% stake in the project have still not seen a cent of the money that has been pumped into the project by the department.

Zondo Commission testimony reveals complex money laundering web

Last week, the Director of Shadow World Investigations, Paul Holden, testified before Deputy Justice Raymond Zondo, that the Guptas used the dairy project to launder an estimated R880 million from the Free State Provincial government. This amount is three times more than the over R283 million that was initially invested in the Vrede based project back in 2012/13 when it was still managed by Estina. Holden revealed that this initial investment into the project was moved around several times via the bank accounts of offshore Gupta-linked companies, later ballooning to R880 million. Holden says this complex process is call “round-tripping”. Holden’s testimony elicited reactions of shock from the public, and from Zondo himself.

Estina which had no background in agriculture was selected as India-based dairy company, Paras’ partner on the project via a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU). Since the FDC took the project over in late 2014, R20 million per annum continues to be pumped into the project. Jankielsohn questioned why the project continues to exist when the selected beneficiaries are still yet to receive a cent.

The Free State Agriculture Department is opposing the application because they have in fact initiated the process of appointing the beneficiaries as shareholders of the project. Spokesperson for the provincial Agriculture Department, Zimasa Leputla, has described the court bid as premature because the process is already underway.

In 2018 eight people were arrested in connection with the doomed dairy project

When the NPA dropped the case in December 2018 to widespread condemnation and criticism from the public, the absence of crucial information from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India was cited as a reason. Recent media reports indicate that the UAE is still not complying with South Africa’s law enforcement agencies on this pertinent information.

READ: Gupta snag? NPA explain ‘stumbling blocks’ in extradition bid

The accused in that matter: former Free State Agriculture head, Peter Thabethe; General Manager for District Services at the Free State Agriculture Department, Takisi Masiteng; former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Free State Agriculture Department Sylvia Dlamini; Estina Director, Kamal Vasram; as well as other key Gupta affiliates, Ronica Raghavan; Nazeem Howa;  Ashu Chawla; and Varun Gupta, each maintained their innocence in 2018. Aside from the re-arrest of Thabethe and Dlamini in 2020 for a separate matter, the others remain off the hook and are free. The criminal investigation into the project appears to have stalled.

Shadow World Investigations probe a glimmer of hope?

Jankielsohn lauded Shadow World Investigations in a statement adding that Holden and company have “supplied the commission and law enforcement agencies with enough additional evidence” to prosecute not just the officials responsible, but the politicians as well.

The DA has maintained for a decade that the Free State provincial government has been transformed into a criminal network under the political supervision of Ace Magashule that included money laundering, fraud, corruption and state capture. This was done under the pretext of the implementation of cadre based deployment, BEE and Affirmative Action

Roy Jankielsohn, Leader of the DA in the Free State