A state witness in the Nulane Investments fraud and corruption trial has told the Bloemfontein high court the company's banking details were provided “on paper” as they were not on the computer system.

The R24.9m trial is related to an alleged corrupt feasibility study contract, a precursor to the infamous Estina dairy farm project in Vrede in the Free State.

Section 204 indemnity witness Shadrack Cezula — former acting head of supply chain management in the Free State agriculture department — said R12m was paid on October 6 2011, the same day he drafted a deviation from normal procurement memo allegedly after being instructed by his then supervisor CFO Seipati Dhlamini, accused No 3 in the matter.

Cezula said he had been told that there was an “urgent” need for a deviation document and a payment to be made on the same day.

He said there were “pressures” on the day as “calls” were made to Dhlamini by department head Peter Thabethe.

He said Nulane was not a service provider for the department and had not submitted its tax clearance certificate and banking details. As they had no banking details, Dhlamini had to provide them on “a paper” for the R12m payment to be made. 

“The banking details came from the CFO, she wrote them on a paper ... an ordinary paper,” Cezula said.

“Under normal circumstances we ought to have been given time to get documents that were not there.”

The payment was uploaded on the computer system on the same day, he said.

“I accompanied the CFO to the finance department for the payment to be processed that day.”

The trial continues.

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