Audio By Carbonatix
South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority will charge a high-profile individual next month as part of its investigation into the plunder of state funds, according to the head of the body’s investigating directorate.
The authority is close to arresting people involved in the Estina dairy scandal, Hermione Cronje said in an interview with the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times newspaper.
The NPA is scrutinizing evidence to ensure it can sustain a case, she said.
“That is the work that needs to come to fruition in the next month,” she told the paper. “We are unbelievably close” to making arrests, Cronje said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged to clamp down on endemic corruption, but his efforts have been stymied by a lack of support within his ruling African National Congress party and a dearth of capacity in law-enforcement agencies.
No high-profile politicians have been convicted in connection with the theft of more than 500 billion rand ($30 billion) from the state during former president Jacob Zuma’s rule.
Ramaphosa last month revised regulations to allow evidence presented at an ongoing inquiry into state corruption, led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, to be used by law-enforcement agencies. That amendment has helped accelerate the NPA’s investigations, Cronje said.
“The support I’m now getting from the Zondo commission will bring me home faster and more reliably,” she said.
The NPA has a pipeline of high-profile cases that are almost ready to go to court, Cronje said, without providing further details.
The Estina scandal involved the leasing of a state-owned farm near the Free State province town of Vrede to Estina Pty Ltd. under a free 99-year contract.
The regional government agreed to help develop it, ostensibly to set up a dairy project that would create 200 jobs.
Prosecutors say most of the 220 million rand in public funds transferred to the company ended up in the hands of the politically connected Gupta family, an allegation it denies.
South Africa’s government has requested the United Arab Emirates to extradite members of the Gupta family, who are originally from India, to face corruption-related allegations in Johannesburg.
The NPA has “battled to get co-operation from the U.A.E. and India” in its investigations, Cronje said.
Latest Stories
-
GHS calls for stronger national support for breastfeeding as Ghana marks World Breastfeeding Week
11 minutes -
KTU hostel crackdown: Rent Control, GTA shut down two facilities over poor sanitation, arbitrary rent concerns
20 minutes -
Two jailed 20 years for trafficking Nigerians into cybercrime in Tema
24 minutes -
Fire guts late Murtala Mohammed’s family home, destroys nine rooms
28 minutes -
UGMC disputes Michael Blackson’s claims, says patient care followed medical standards
38 minutes -
Confusion as traders re-erect containers at Baba Yara Stadium after KMA demolition
40 minutes -
Third-term presidency claims designed to divide NDC and revive collapsed NPP – Mustapha Gbande
41 minutes -
Ghana’s central bank pumped nearly $13bn into FX market in just a year, IMF says
46 minutes -
Bueman SHS wins historic Riddle Bonanza at 2026 NSMQ Oti Regional Qualifiers
51 minutes -
Ghana Police Service and Education Ministry fined again for RTI non-compliance
56 minutes -
NDC sets dates for 2026 internal executive elections
58 minutes -
Afenyo-Markin donates laptops to newly posted teachers in Effutu
58 minutes -
Korle-Bu, Komfo Anokye, all five teaching hospitals fined GH₵20,000 over failure to submit RTI reports
1 hour -
RTI Commission fines 254 public institutions GH¢20,000 each over failure to submit 2025 reports
1 hour -
St. Mary’s Seminary SHS, Lolobi secures final Oti ticket to 2026 NSMQ
1 hour