The corruption case involving, Nulane Investment,a company linked to the Gupta family, is set to return to the Bloemfontein High Court on 20 January 2027 for a pretrial conference.
The Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court postponed the matter to that date following the Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA) decision to overturn the High Court’s acquittal of all the accused.
In a statement, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the matter was reinstated on 4 June 2026 by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC).
The accused include businessman Iqbal Sharma and his company, Nulane Investment which was allegedly involved in irregular payments of R24.9 million by the Free State Department of Agriculture, former Free State Department of Agriculture (FSDoA) head Peter Thabethe; former department head Limakatso Moorosi; former chief financial officer Seipati Dhlamini; Ronica Ragavan and Gupta-owned Islandsite Investments, which she represents.
Also included is Dinesh Patel, Sharma’s brother-in-law.
They are accused of acting in common purpose in connection with the alleged irregular payment of R24.9 million by the department to Nulane Investment to conduct a feasibility study for the flagship Mohoma Mobung project.
The project ultimately led to the establishment of the Vrede/Estina dairy farm project.
Investigations revealed that Nulane Investment subcontracted Deloitte to conduct the feasibility study for R1.5 million, significantly less than the R24.9 million it had received from the department.
The accused previously applied for a discharge in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, seeking to have the case dismissed at the close of the prosecution’s case. The High Court granted the application, acquitting all the accused, before the SCA overturned that decision.
The case will now proceed towards trial following the pretrial conference.
