Hawks vow 'arrests are imminent' amid raid on Free State Premier's office
The Hawks raided the offices of the Free State Premier and the provincial Agriculture Department in Bloemfontein on Friday morning.
The elite crime-fighting unit is executing search and seizure warrants relating to the Estina dairy project near Vrede.
African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Ace Magashule, who is also the Free State Premier, has been implicated in the scheme.
#EstinaDairyProject The #Hawks says its officials will spend the entire day today raiding the offices of Free State Premier, #AceMagashule and the provincial Agriculture department. #StateCapture
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) January 26, 2018
The controversial Gupta family is believed to have pocketed millions from the project, which was supposed to benefit emerging farmers.
Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi says two specialised units are searching for specific documents and electronic data related to the project.
Mulaudzi says investigations are at an advanced stage and arrests are imminent.
"We are of the view that we have a watertight case. So there's no way that those people we have identified to have been involved can go away without being charged."
The raids come a day after the terms of reference for the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture were published.
Mulaudzi could not confirm the identity of the suspects but said "once we done with this, we will go back to the NPA to state our case".