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ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule was released on a 200,000 rand bond after his first appearance at Bloemfontein Magistrates Court today. He faces multiple charges of corruption, fraud, theft and money laundering for his alleged participation in the Free State’s asbestos audit contract of 255 million rand.
The secretary general of the African National Congress (ANC) and former Prime Minister of the Free State, Ace Magashule, made his first court appearance on Friday, November 10, after an arrest warrant was issued on Tuesday.
Although Magashule appeared only today, he will be joined in the dock by his co-defendants: Johannesburg businessman and owner of Blackhead Consulting, Pheagane Edwin Sodi; Head of the Free State Human Settlements Department (FSDoHS), Nthimotse Mokhesi; the director of supply chain management at FSDoHS, Mahlomola John Matlakala; Fourways Seal Entrepreneur Joseph Radebe; Pretoria businessman Abel Kgotso Manyeki; the former director general of the national department of human settlements, Thabane Wiseman Zulu; and a former Free State MEC for Human Settlements and former Mangaung Mayor, Sarah Matawana Mlamleli.
The group is charged with fraud related to a multi-million rand asbestos contract.
In 2014, a joint venture between Sodi’s Blackhead Consulting and Igo Mpambani’s Diamond Hill Trading 74 closed the Free State’s human settlements department’s lucrative asbestos audit contract to identify and replace asbestos roofs on homes in the province.
To this day, asbestos roofs have not been replaced.
Ace Magashule Appears in Court, While Free State Residents Deny Knowing of Any Project to Replace Asbestos Roofs
According to the state’s indictment, FSDoHS made several payments to Diamond Hill Trading 71-Blackhead JV of which Phikolomzi Mpambani and Sodi were the account holders.
This is after the company was appointed by Nthimotse Mokhesi as a service provider in a contract worth 255 million rand. Mpambani, Sodi’s business partner, was assassinated in Johannesburg in 2017.
“It is alleged that in August 2015, Magashule corruptly accepted the R53,550 bonus, paid in his application for the tuition fees of the daughter of a sitting judge in Mpambani.
“It is further alleged that in June 2015 Magashule accepted the payment of R470,000, paid in its application to M-TAG Systems for the acquisition of 200 electronic tablets from Mpambani.
“Furthermore, it is alleged that in June 2015 Magashule accepted a payment of R30,000, paid upon its request to SWC Nkate of Mpambani.
“Between November 2015 and January 2016, Mpambani made a payment of R250,000, at his request, to Astra Travel for the travel expenses of a delegation to Cuba.
“It is further alleged that Magashule did not report corrupt transactions in contravention of the Law on Prevention and Combat of Corrupt Activities 12 of 2004,” maintains the National Fiscal Authority.
Magashule’s bail was set at 200,000 rand despite his lawyer asking that it be set at 20,000 rand because his client was unable to pay more than that amount. Initially, the state requested that the bond be set at R250,000.
During Magashule’s appearance, the magistrate asked why the accused was not in chains.
“The reason I ask is that it is normal practice for defendants to appear in shackles before this court,” he said.
In defense of the state, the investigator said: “It is not that he is Ace Magashule, but because he complied with the officers and did not resist arrest.”
During the process it was revealed that the former Magashule aide during his tenure as Prime Minister of the Free State, Moroadi Cholota, had become a state witness.
Your testimony before the State Capture Commission In late 2019 he revealed a lot about the middleman role he played by soliciting financial favors from people like the murdered Igo Mpambani, on behalf of his boss.
Outside the court, several hundred Magashule followers sang and danced. There was little evidence of mask use and no physical distancing.
Zanele Twala said she was a Magashule supporter.
“I love his leadership and honesty. I follow him more than I follow the ANC.
“He is a father to many, including me, so don’t leave out Ace Magashule. You are not the only one facing criminal charges. Why should it be singled out? she said.
Twala traveled from Pixley ka Seme in the North Cape and was transferred to Bloemfontein in a minibus taxi arranged by a councilor from her district.
Most of the supporters wore ANC-branded badges despite ANC instructions not to do so.
A constituency in Mpumalanga answered the call and wore white T-shirts printed with a message that read: “Out of Cde Ace Magashule.”
“This man took many of us to school so he couldn’t see me without showing support as he is accused of a crime that maybe he didn’t commit,” said Sicelo Nkambule from Mpumalanga.
Magashule’s case was postponed until February 19, 2021.
Three more defendants will be added to the charge sheet and join the ANC leader, along with the rest of the co-defendants.
Magashule’s bail conditions include that he cannot apply for a new passport or travel outside the country without permission from the investigating officer.
He was warned not to try to contact the witness Moroadi Cholota, who will be central to the state’s case. DM
