"We want it all. Cabinet memos, cabinet minutes, attendance registers, letters and minutes of meetings."
That was the demand made by the Hawks on Friday morning when investigators arrived unannounced at OR Tambo House in central Bloemfontein, where Free State premier Ace Magashule's office is.
They wanted records from as far back as 2011 in relation to the Vrede dairy farm project awarded to the Gupta-linked company Estina in June 2012.This dramatic swoop came after a preservation order obtained by the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the NPA stated that the Guptas and their business associates benefited unduly from the R220-million paid by the Free State agriculture department to Estina for a project meant to benefit the poor.
The farm was seized, and now the Hawks want to know who signed off on the corrupt deal that allegedly funded the Guptas' luxury lifestyle of private jets and an opulent wedding, among other things.A judge in the High Court in Pretoria had agreed that there was enough reason to believe that a serious crime had been committed and that evidence for this would be obtained from Magashule's office and the offices of the provincial department of agriculture, said a source in the Hawks.
The Hawks want to know, through the provincial government's records, the lengths to which Magashule and former MEC for agriculture Mosebenzi Zwane - now minister of mineral resources - allegedly went in illegally pushing through this project to the Gupta-linked company.
A source close to the investigation noted that proving that Magashule - who is also ANC secretary-general - or his family benefitted from this project would be difficult. "He is well insulated. Like [President Jacob] Zuma," the source said...