FORMER mineral resources minister and chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport, Mosebenzi Zwane, has been granted bail of R10 000 following his arrest on corruption charges related to the controversial dairy farm project.
Zwane briefly appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday morning after handing himself over to the police along with former Gupta employees, Ugeshni Govender and Ronica Ragavan.
Govender was also granted bail of R10 000.
During his bail application, Zwane’s lawyer said the ANC MP was not a flight risk and requested that he be released on bail of R10 000.
Zwane’s lawyer also informed the court that his client intended to plead not guilty to the charges against him.
Zwane and his co-accused faces charges of fraud, theft, money laundering and corruption in connection with the Estina dairy farm project in the Free State, where more than R200 million of public funds that were meant to empower black farmers were looted.
Zwane, who was the MEC for agriculture and rural development in the Free State at the time of the Estina scam, is accused of making millions available for the powerful Gupta Family.
He played a central role in the establishment of the Vrede Dairy Farm Project, which was handed to Estina, a Gupta-linked company, without a tender.
Estina director Kamal Vasram, a former Gupta employee, had no experience in farming or agriculture.
The indictment alleges the Guptas used some of the money to pay for an extravagant family wedding at Sun City in 2013 and to buy a private jet and a fleet of luxury cars.
Estina also transferred R10-million directly into Atul Gupta’s bank account.
The case has been postponed to 2 November 2022.
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