ActionSA to Write to the Minister of Justice After R280 Million Estina Dairy Case is Struck Off the Roll
8 August 2024
ActionSA expresses outrage following the Free State High Court's decision to strike the R280 million Estina Dairy case off the roll, with Judge Celeste Reinders citing delays attributed to the prosecution as unreasonable, making it impossible for the case to proceed under the circumstances.
ActionSA intends to write to the Minister of Justice to demand urgent action in holding the NPA accountable for this matter and will demand the urgent reinstatement of the case.
In what is undoubtedly a travesty of justice, nearly a year ago, ActionSA wrote to the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Adv. Shamila Batohi, to get an understanding of the delays in prosecuting the Estina Dairy Farm case, a concern we raised in recognition that yesterday's ruling was an eventuality if the NPA did not get its act together.
It is unthinkable, in any country where the rule of law is upheld, that a case delayed since 2014 and now, a decade later, finally expected to be ventilated in court, would see the NPA caught with its pants down, leaving justice hanging in the balance.