The Bloemfontein High Court postponed the Estina dairy farm state capture case to August for a pre-trial hearing.
The matter was back in court on Friday for case management.
Former MEC for Agriculture in the Free State, Mosebenzi Zwane appeared alongside his co-accused where they face fraud, corruption, and money laundering charges linked to the R280 million botched rural development project.
Several other former Free State officials, including Peter Thabethe and Seipati Dhlamini, were in the dock with Zwane.
They face an additional charge for contravening the Public Finance Management Act.
The spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)’s Investigative Directorate, Sindisiwe Seboka, said the latest postponement will afford the accused time to study the docket.
“It’s also an opportunity for them to then decide, looking at the evidence against them, to decide if they’re going to plead guilty or not guilty and what then should happen going forward. However, now the case is not in the State’s hands but is in the hands of the accused to give us an indication of what we should do now.”
Meanwhile, the Nulane trial was underway in the same court where some of the co-accused were also charged in the Estina case.
-EWN
In other news – Faith Nketsi’s husband on the run as he flees his Hyde Park mansion
Troubled business mogul Nzuzo Njilo is allegedly on the run after the South African Police Service issued a warrant of arrest against him. A local publication has it that Njilo has since vacated his multimillion-rand Hyde Park mansion in the leafy suburbs of Johannesburg amid a police search.
Reports have it that the mansion was sold over a month ago. In the wake of these developments, little is known about his whereabouts, given that the mansion’s address was his last known address. Learn More
