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Secretary General Ace Magashule is accused of stealing public money set aside to audit government houses with asbestos roofs in 2014.
A senior official in the African National Congress (ANC) that governs South Africa was released on bail in a corruption case that has highlighted divisions within a party whose dominance has not been questioned since the 1994 end of minority rule. white.
Secretary-General Ace Magashule was not asked to plead guilty in his first court appearance on Friday, where he faced 21 counts of corruption and fraud, but has previously denied wrongdoing.
Magashule is accused of stealing public money set aside to audit government houses with asbestos roofs in 2014, when he was prime minister of the Free State province.
The allegations revolve around the equivalent of $ 16.4 million (13.9 million euros) in asbestos audit contracts awarded during former President Jacob Zuma’s corruption-tainted term from 2009-2018.
The dangerous roofs were never removed, leading investigators to believe that more than $ 12 million had been pocketed.
Seven other suspects were arrested and granted bail in connection with the case, which has now been postponed until February 19.
The charges have put Magashule on a collision course with President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has vowed to clean up the ANC’s image with a tough stance on corruption, but whose detractors accuse him of using it to marginalize his opponents.
Magistrate Amos Moos of the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court set the bond for Magashule at 200,000 rand ($ 12,823.72).
“We hope to add three more defendants to the charge sheet,” the National Tax Authority said in a statement.
Challenging Magashule
Outside the court, thousands of supporters denounced the trial as a witch hunt, singing, dancing and waving banners reading “Hands off Comrade Magashule,” images from national television channels showed.
After showing up, Magashule, who had turned herself in to the police earlier that day, stepped out to address the crowd. “I will only step aside if the branches that voted for me ask me to,” he said to loud applause.
Some protesters tried to tear down a cordon of barbed wire around the court, while others burned yellow ANC T-shirts with Ramaphosa’s face, asking him to resign.
“If you arrest Ace Magashule, you arrest the entire ANC!” yelled a protester.
Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller, reporting from Bloemfontein, said the demonstrations were an indication of division within the ANC.
“Cyril Ramaphosa faces a huge division within his own party, people fighting for their own political survival,” he said.
“Ramaphosa said that he was going to fight corruption. But to begin with, that fight is likely to take place within his own party. “
Magashule is the highest-profile politician to stand trial since former President Zuma, whose trial on corruption charges resumed in December.
Magashule belongs to a faction within the ruling party that has pushed for radical economic transformation and has at times been at odds with the Ramaphosa since he replaced Zuma as head of state in February 2018.
The ANC has not asked Magashule to resign due to the allegations.
Speaking to state broadcaster SABC, ANC undersecretary general Jessie Duarte warned Magashule supporters: “While we are supporting it, we must not do so by destroying the very movement that we want to change this country.”
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