The NPA’s Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) has re-enrolled the R25 million Gupta-linked Nulane Investments corruption case after a successful appeal overturned the acquittal of all accused.
In June last year, the SCA overturned the Free State High Court’s decision to acquit all the accused in the R25 million Nulane Investments fraud and money laundering case.
The SCA set aside the High Court ruling that saw eight accused walk free in April 2023 after the court found there was no case to answer under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The ruling followed an appeal by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) seeking to reverse the judgment.
The SCA ordered that the accused be retried before a different judge.
The matter relates to payments made by the Free State government to Nulane Investments to conduct a feasibility study that led to the controversial and failed Gupta-linked Vrede dairy farm project.
The accused include government officials and Gupta-linked associates: Iqbal Sharma and his company, Nulane Investments; former Free State Department of Agriculture (FSDoA) head Peter
Thabethe; former FSDoA head Limakatso Moorosi; former FSDoA chief financial officer Seipati Dhlamini; Ronica Ragavan and the company she represents, Gupta-owned Islandsite Investments; and Dinesh Patel, Sharma’s brother-in-law and a representative of Nulane Investments.
On Thursday, June 4, the NPA’s Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) confirmed it had re-enrolled the case.
“The NPA’s Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) re-enrolled the Nulane corruption case at the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on 04 June 2026, following the Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA) decision favouring the state to reinstate the matter in June 2025,” said IDAC spokesperson Henry Mamothame.
“The accused’ bid to have the Constitutional Court overturn the SCA’s ruling was also dismissed.
He said the matter was postponed to Sept. 22, 2026, for disclosure of the docket.
“All the accused were present in court after they were issued with summons,” he said.
The SCA overturned the Free State High Court’s decision to acquit all the accused.
“It is ordered that the first to seventh respondents may be retried for the same offences in respect of which they were acquitted by the Free State High Court on April 21, 2023, as if they had not previously been arraigned, tried and acquitted: provided that a different judge shall preside over the trial,” the judgment read.
NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga previously said the judgment confirmed the authority’s view that Acting Judge Nompumelelo Gusha had misdirected herself in applying the relevant legal principles and erred in her strong criticism of the prosecution team.
Mhaga said the judgment paved the way for IDAC to reinstate the case within a reasonable period, adding that the NPA remained resolute in its commitment to prosecuting and holding accountable those responsible for state capture-related corruption.
“Beyond this important case, IDAC has made significant progress in its efforts to ensure accountability for serious and complex corruption and related crimes stemming from the state capture era. It has enrolled 50 cases, declared 133 investigations and partnered with the Asset Forfeiture Unit to obtain freezing and preservation orders amounting to R14.3 billion with R8.2bn in confiscation orders deposited to the Criminal Asset Recovery Account (CARA),” Mhaga said.
He said IDAC had made progress on several other matters and aimed to enrol several new cases in the coming months.
“Since becoming permanent and with requisite criminal investigative powers in August 2024, IDAC has expanded its capacity to enable it to deliver effectively on its prosecution-led mandate.”
“It also has established an innovative partnership giving it access to a world-class digital evidence unit that bolsters its ability to extract data from encrypted digital devices to be used as admissible evidence in its cases,” he previously said.
