Lawyer accuses witness of lying about CFO 'dictating' deviation memo used to pay Nulane R12m

A lawyer representing a former CFO of a Free State government department accused a witness of lying for saying his client had dictated a deviation memo that was used to pay Nulane Investments R12m.

Shadrack Cezula, a section 204 indemnity witness, was being cross-examined on Thursday by Willem Edeling, who represents Seipati Dhlamini, one of the accused.

Cezula had told the court that in a “bizarre” move Dhlamini had come to his office in October 2011 to dictate a deviation memo that was used to pay Gupta associate Iqbal Sharma's company Nulane Investments R12m without the necessary documents having been submitted.

Edeling accused him of lying, as Dhlamini was a senior manager in the department who wouldn't go to her juniors offices.

“She doesn't go to people's offices, they come to her office,” Edeling said.

Cezula responded that he also found it bizarre that Dhlamini came to his office.

He told the court that Dhlamini asked him to go with her to the finance department to ensure that the payment to Nulane went through that same day.

He said they stayed late ensuring that the money was paid to Nulane.

“We knock off at 4, but the payment went through after 5pm,” Cezula said.

Cezula has been on the stand since Wednesday and had already been cross-examined by lawyers representing Peter Thabethe and Limakatso Moorosi.

The high court trial is related to the alleged corrupt feasibility study contract worth R24.9m, a precursor to the controversial Estina dairy farm project in Vrede, in the Free State.

The trial continues.

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