State Capture Commission to hear evidence from unidentified witnesses

The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in Johannesburg will hear evidence from four unidentified witnesses when proceedings resume Friday morning.

On Thursday, former acting Eskom Acting Group Chief Executive Officer, Matshela Koko, told the Commission that he and his family footed their own bill for their trip to Dubai in 2015.

He said Gupta-associate Salim Essa did not foot the bill – as alleged by some witnesses.

“We planned for it, we paid with our money, but we had difficulties with our passports. My daughter could not get a passport so I went to miss Daniels, because, between Ms Daniels and my professional assistant, they never battled with Visas. Things happened quickly; I gave all the documents we had to Ms Daniels. We booked our trip to Dubai, we’ve paid for it, don’t need Salim Essa to pay for it. There is the evidence that we paid for it.”

Estina Dairy farm project

Also on Thursday, former Free State Human Settlement MEC, Mosebenzi Zwane, conceded that the Estina Dairy Farm project was badly handled. However, he said he believes it was the best initiative for agriculture.

Zwane disputed claims that beneficiaries of the Vrede Dairy Farm Project were sidelined.

A number of the intended 82 beneficiaries earlier testified that the department made them numerous promises that were not realised.

Instead, the project started in 2012, saw nearly R200 million of the department’s money paid to a Gupta-linked company, Estina.

State Capture Commission hears Eskom hears evidence related to Estina dairy farm project from Mosebenzi Zwane then Matshela Koko:

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