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#BreakingNews: Hawks arrest two for #Estina project

───   KATLEHO MORAPELA 12:30 Thu, 02 Jul 2020

#BreakingNews: Hawks arrest two for #Estina project | News Article

Two suspects in connection with the controversial Vrede Dairy Project in the Free State have been arrested.


The Hawks' Katlego Mogale confirms they have been arrested for corruption, fraud and money laundering of over R244 million. 

The arrested suspects include a 55-year-old sole director of Rekgonne Community Projects, a company which entered into an agreement with the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2014 to implement all projects on behalf of the department for a period of two years, and the department's 49-year-old former Chief Financial Officer (CFO). 

It is alleged the former CFO is Seipati Dlamini, who made headlines last year when the Zondo Commission heard testimonies relating to how the department made a R30 million upfront payment to Estina without any work being done or services being rendered. 

These two are expected to appear before the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Friday.

The arrests came three days after the failed multi-million rand project made national headlines following the Supreme Court of Appeal's (SCA) dismissal of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's attempt to appeal the Pretoria High Court's judgment against her.

The SCA dismissed her application indicating that there was no reasonable prospect of success in an appeal and there is no other compelling reason why an appeal should be heard. This comes months after the Pretoria High Court found that Mkhwebane contravened the Public Protector Act and the Constitution in her initial report.

The SCA ruled that Mkhwebane should pay at least 85% of the costs in her personal capacity. 

In the first case, the DA took the initial investigation report under judicial review, stating that it was nothing but white-washing, seeking to protect politicians as it failed to indicate the role played by the likes of the former Free State Premier Ace Magashule and former Agriculture MEC Mosebenzi Zwane.

OFM News previously reported that over R220 million, earmarked for this project to assist upcoming farmers in Vrede, was looted from the province without any intended beneficiaries seeing a single cent.

The National Head of the Hawks, Godfrey Lebeya, has meanwhile applauded the investigation team for the arrests.


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