Alarming audio clip has farmers spooked in wake of murder of Estina whistle-blower
Police say they are not actively investigating a link between the murder of a Vrede farmer and the recording of men discussing a hit
A chilling audio clip, in which two men discuss putting a man’s head under a train for money, has farmers in the Free State town of Vrede spooked. But police say they are not actively investigating a link between the murder last week of an outspoken Vrede farmer and the audio recording, in which the men discuss a hit on the chair of the local farming association. The body of Philemon Ngwenya was found at his home on Friday. He had been beaten to death with a blunt object. Ngwenya was one of the locals who was supposed to benefit from the Estina Dairy Project. Instead, the project was used to funnel millions in government funds into Gupta bank accounts. About R200m was invested by the Free State government into the dairy farm. It is alleged that about R30m of this was used to fund the lavish wedding of a Gupta family member at Sun City in 2013. Ngwenya was a member of the African Farmers’ Association of SA and a close friend of the association’s Vrede chair, Ephraim Dlamini. The audi...
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