Former assistent to Ace Magashule acquitted after court found her extradition unlawful

The Free State High Court ruled in a sitting Tuesday that the extradition of former Free State premier Ace Magashule’s ex-personal assistant Moroadi Cholota from the USA was unlawful, and she cannot be tried in the asbestos corruption case.

Former premier of the Free State a former secretary general of the ANC Magashule is charged with multiple counts of fraud, corruption and money laundering allegedly committed.

He is accused of stealing public money set aside to audit government houses with asbestos roofs in 2014, when he was premier of the Free State province.

The allegations revolve around the equivalent of R292 million in asbestos audit contracts awarded during ex-president Jacob Zuma’s graft-tainted tenure of 2009-2018. The hazardous roofs were never removed, leading investigators to believe that over R214 million had been pocketed.

DA Spokesperson on Justice and Constitutional Development Adv Glynnis Breytenbach said the DA will write to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice, requesting that the Department of Justice (DAJ) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) account for yet another unacceptable failure in prosecuting state capture cases.

“The DA is not surprised to learn that yet another corruption case will not be proceeding due to failures of the NPA and DOJ to do their jobs; this time because they again failed to lawfully extradite persons implicated in corruption scandals. This follows from the bungled Gupta extradition in 2023 by the DoJ.

“The NPA has to date failed miserably to prosecute state capture cases, creating the impression that those responsible for looting state money, will never be held accountable.

“After nine lost years of cronyism and corruption under former President Zuma, now leader of the MK Party, South Africans deserve better,” Breytenbach said in a news release on Wednesday.

“It is high time Parliament realises that the NPA and DOJ are unable to serve and protect South Africans from the thugs that looted the people of South Africa, in one of our country’s darkest times. Those implicated in state capture and corruption must be brought to book, and be met with the full force of the law. In obtaining justice for South Africa, every mistake is costly, and every missed prosecution makes a mockery of the justice system.”