The R280 million Estina Dairy fraud and corruption case involving former minister Mosebenzi Zwane is expected to be back in the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein on Friday.
Zwane and 15 other co-accused, including Ugeshni Govender and Ronica Ragavan, are accused of fraud, corruption, and money laundering, among other things.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) previously said it expects a trial date to be set.
The case was reinstated late last year after it was provisionally withdrawn in 2018 due to a lack of evidence.
Charges against the Estina company have been withdrawn, due to the liquidation process that the NPA says was underway.
The video below is reporting on the last court appearance:
During his testimony at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in May 2021, Zwane conceded that the Estina Dairy farm project was badly handled.
Zwane disputed claims that beneficiaries of the project were sidelined.
A number of the intended 82 beneficiaries earlier testified that the department made them numerous promises but these were not realised.
Instead, the project, which started in 2012, saw nearly R200 million of department money paid to a Gupta-linked company, Estina.
