The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate (ID) said it will reinstate the R280 million Estina dairy farm fraud and corruption case as soon as possible after the Free State High Court struck the matter off the court roll on Wednesday.
This comes after the matter was set for trial from August 5 to September 13.
In a statement, NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said the judge removed the matter following an application by the defence for the case to be struck off the roll in terms of Section 342 A of the Criminal Procedure Act.
This section grants the court the authority to examine any delays in the completion of proceedings that it deems unreasonable.
If the court finds that the proceedings are unreasonably delayed and the accused has not yet entered a plea, it may direct that the case be removed from the roll. After removal, the prosecution cannot initiate new proceedings without the written consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“The defence cited its inability to access the electronic version of the hard copies of the so-called Gupta leaked emails,” said Mhaga.
Mhaga said that as early as 2023, as part of the disclosure process, the State had provided the defence with hard copies of the Gupta emails.
“On June 15, 2024, the defence was provided with the electronic versions of the same hard copies disclosed in early 2023. The State also made its own technical expert available to assist the defence in accessing the digital platform, should they experience any challenges,’’ he said.
Mhaga added that the NPA will reflect further on the court’s decision as the NPA remains undeterred in the pursuit of this case and will take all necessary steps to re-instate it.
The case involves former Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, Ugeshni Govender (a former Sahara employee), and Ronica Ragavan. They are facing charges related to the R280 million Estina Dairy farm project.
They have all been charged with fraud, theft, corruption and money laundering.
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