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.

ActionSA continues to express concern about the evident lack of successful state capture prosecutions and convictions, despite the final Zondo Commission Reports, which cost taxpayers over a billion rand to produce, being handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa more than two years ago. This raises questions about whether the NPA, under its current leadership, is capable of delivering the justice demanded by South Africans.

This shameful ruling is a damning indictment of a justice system that appears to be in a stagnant rut, where South Africans are no closer to seeing accountability for the treasonous assault on our democracy perpetrated by a corrupt syndicate.

ActionSA believes that the R280 million Estina Dairy matter is just one case among many that exposes how an expansive corrupt syndicate looted state coffers, thereby devastating communities and our economy, and eroding the fabric of our constitutional order through their nefarious acts.

Statement issued by Patricia Kopane, ActionSA Free State Provincial Chairperson, 8 August 2024