Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti helped an ANC comrade take over a R97- million farm in Limpopo, which then fell into ruin, reported the Sunday Times. The minister denied wrongdoing to the newspaper. “Bekendvlei Farm was bought for R97-million and handed over to Errol Velile Present, who had been working at Luthuli House for more than 10 years, and his partner, businessman Moses Boshomane, to manage,” reported the newspaper on Sunday. “The senior department official had prioritised the deal by bypassing required procedures. A day after the deal went through.” Nkwinti was the speaker at Present’s lavish wedding. “Neither Present nor Boshomane had an ancestral claim to the farm. They also had no experience in agriculture.” The newspaper said the farm was bought by Nkwinti’s department, although it was not subject to a land claim, and handed over to Present and Boshomane to manage. Although the department spent another R30-million on running costs, the farmworkers were not paid for five months and the farm became run down. “About 3 000 cattle, worth almost R18-million, were sold off, machinery disappeared and crops died,” said the newspaper. Nkwinti eventually evicted the men in March last year. The minister’s involvement was exposed in a forensic investigation by auditors Deloitte, with a draft report in May last year recommending that Nkwinti be charged with corruption, but the final report in November does not mention Nkwinti or recommend any action against him. The department’s deputy director-general, Vusi Mahlangu, was fired over the…more detail
