According to the DA in the province, the time has come for beneficiaries to receive the justice they deserve. This, as the case against the Free State Agriculture Department is expected to be heard by the High Court on Thursday. Party Leader, Roy Jankielsohn, says the intended beneficiaries of the project, initially set out to assist upcoming farmers, have not seen a single cent. He says the party has reverted to the courts to ensure that the money spent on the project benefits the intended beneficiaries. He, in a statement, says the decision to drag the department to court comes after they exhausted the avenues of trying to "acquire a sound Public Protector report on the issue".

“After an exhaustive process of [trying to] acquire a sound Public Protector report on the issue that included a judicial review of the first report, the DA reverted to the courts to ensure that the money spent on the project benefits the beneficiaries and the community. The DA contends that no project of this nature has a right to exist without beneficiaries or other benefits for the local community and province, he said.

The project recently made headlines over the near R25 million feasibility study that has been deemed the catalyst of the alleged looting and money laundering. Testimonies before the State Capture Commission of Inquiry have revealed how the department failed to conduct a proper feasibility study before coughing up over R250 million on the project.

Those already facing criminal charges relating to this controversial project, is the former Head of the Free State Agriculture Department, Peter Thabethe; current Deputy Director-General at the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Sylvia Dlamini; and Bloem Water Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Limakatso Moorosi, amongst a number of Gupta business associates.

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