Court gives NPA 102 days to prove Estina farm case

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has been given 102 days to prove its first case against the graft-accused Gupta family or the landmark “state capture” prosecution will be thrown out of court.

Bloemfontein magistrate Collin Nekosie did not mince his words on Tuesday about the “reprehensible” delays the state has caused in the matter. But he stopped short of granting the defence its application to have the case struck off the roll.

Prosecutors insist they can prove that R250m intended for poor black farmers was siphoned into the bank accounts of Gupta companies, but the NPA has failed twice to secure the freezing of Gupta assets it claims are linked to this alleged criminal scheme.

Nekosie said the state’s “conduct and decision-making had resulted in unreasonable delays in the completion of proceedings, which if left unchecked could substantially prejudice the accused”.

He added: “I’m left with the impression that there has been no momentum to the investigation as one would expect in a matter of this nature. This contributes to the delay by the state being even more reprehensible.”

The NPA has until November 30 to finish its investigations and hand over the final docket and indictment to the accused.

NPA spokesperson Phaladi Shuping acknowledged this will be no easy task. “We are satisfied with the decision, but we are aware that it is giving us a lot of responsibility, considering the fact that we still have a lot of issues that we have to follow up in terms of investigations,” Shuping said.

“We are dealing with a complex matter, financial statements – especially with regard to foreign companies – it’s starting to become a problem for us.

“But we’ve involved the auditors that are assisting us with the analysis of those statements, so we are very optimistic that come November 30, all that we are looking for will be available.”

Shuping said the NPA “did not see any challenge in getting all the necessary evidence that we need” from the United Arab Emirates and India.

The matter returns to court on December 4.