The leaked e-mails that showed the Gupta family had significant control over the Vrede Dairy Farm contract between Estina, a company linked to the family, and the Free State agriculture department, did not form part of the public protector’s investigation of the project. This is according to the final report on the public protector’s investigation, quietly placed on its website on Friday.
The public protector details in the report that she noted the news reports on the e-mails, but that it did not form part of the scope of the investigation. It was one of the aspects that were not investigated due to “capacity and financial constraint”. ….more