This comes after the criminal matter concerning the project was adjourned by the Bloemfontein Regional Court till Tuesday, August 21. It is then that Magistrate Collin Nekosi will decide on the state’s application to postpone the matter for a period of between three and five months to finalise investigations. 

DA Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL), David van Vuuren, noted there were weaknesses in the state’s case, referring to the National Prosecuting Authority’s assertion that they could only bring forward 5% of the total evidence to court at present. 

He, however, told media outside the Court the party remains confident, justice will prevail, because the project was not above board, something which was highlighted by the party early on. Van Vuuren says it will be unfortunate if the matter gets struck off the court roll, especially for the 80 beneficiaries. 

The NPA “must get its house in order and build a solid case” for the sake of justice. He says they should look into the key decision makers, the politicians who spearheaded the case as well.

The accused on the other hand maintain the state’s request for a postponement should not be granted, in fact it should be struck off the roll. 

This is according to Michael Hellens, legal counsel for accused 6, 7, 9 and 11 in the matter, namely; Oakbay Investments, Ashu Chawla, Varun Gupta and Aerohaven (Pty) Ltd. Hellens further criticised the state, for making the arrests when it did not have sufficient evidence to do so, "why did they bring our clients to court when they did”.

The eight suspects made their first appearance in Court Room 17 of the Bloemfontein Regional Court, in February of this year on a number of charges including fraud, money laundering and corruption. They were all subsequently released out on bail of between R10 000 and R200 000. 

In the months that followed that court appearance, the NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit was dealt several blows – the latest in May - in the Free State High Court, a fact mentioned in Hellens’ argument on the strength of the criminal case. Justice Bakamela , on behalf of the state, stressed the matters are in fact different, adding they are in possession of evidence, the AFU does not have. 

The accused maintained the protracted court battle is infringing on their rights and is in fact “prejudicial”, something the NPA denies.

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