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For Loyiso Sidimba 
2h ago
Bloemfontein – ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule’s fraud and corruption case is heading to the Free State High Court following his brief appearance in Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Friday.
The National Prosecutor’s Office (NPA) was ready to proceed with the matter, but the defense of the 16 defendants asked Magistrate Mxolisi Saliwa to postpone the matter until August 11, when a pre-trial hearing will take place.
Magashule, who is the 13th defendant in the case, is indicted along with the head of the Free State human settlements department, Nthimotse Mokhesi; its director of supply chain management, Mahlomola Matlakala; businessman Edwin Sodi and Sodi’s company, Blackhead Consulting; Diamond Hill Trading 71, whose owner Igo Mpambani was assassinated in 2017; and 605 Consulting Solutions, which is the business of Mpambani’s widow, Michele Mpombani.
Other defendants are the businessman Seal Radebe and his company, Mastertrade 232; ORI and its director, Abel Manyeki; former National Director General for Human Settlements Thabane Zulu; as well as the former human settlements of the Free State MEC and the former mayor of Mangaung, Olly Mlamleli. Michele Mpambani is not among those charged.
Three other senior officials of the provincial government: the financial director of the provincial department of human settlements, Nozipho Molikoe; its director of the project management unit, Thabiso Makepe; and Albertus Venter, a lawyer who was a senior official in Magashule’s office during his tenure as Free State prime minister, were added as defendants in the matter following their arrests by the Hawks on Thursday.
Molikoe, Makepe and Venter, who earn between R88,000 and R98,000 per month, received a bond of R50,000 from Judge Saliwa.
The 16 defendants are all released on bail of between 50,000 and 500,000 rand in the Sodi case.
They face charges ranging from fraud, corruption, money laundering and contravention of the Prevention and Combat of Corrupt Activities Act and the Public Finance Management Act in connection with the R255 million contract to audit houses that had asbestos roofs. in the province.
National Tax Authority spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said the investigation into the matter was conducted and the multidisciplinary investigation team has done a phenomenal job in two years.
Political Bureau
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