The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is set to oppose bail for ex-personal assistant of former Free State premier Ace Magashule, Moroadi Cholota on Monday, legal expert Melusi Xulu has said.
Xulu said the State’s argument would be that Cholota was a flight risk.
“We’ll see how that will be done and how the defence will fight. I think her legal team is ready. I saw a report that they were already indicating that she is just being used in this case, because she refused to be a State witness against Ace Magashule,” the expert said.
Cholota is expected to make her first court appearance on Monday in Bloemfontein’s Magistrate’s Court.
This follows her successful extradition to South Africa after it was authorised by the US government on July 31.
She landed at the OR Tambo International Airport under the escort of law enforcement on Thursday, and was subsequently handed over to the Hawks.
Cholota is facing charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering linked to the R255 million asbestos scandal.
Earlier this year, she launched an urgent application in the Constitutional Court, seeking to block her extradition from the US.
However, on July 26, the Concourt dismissed her application on the basis that no case had been made out for either urgency or direct access.
Cholota was sought in connection with the R255m asbestos contract awarded in 2014 to the Diamond Hill Trading and Blackhead Consulting joint venture by the Free State department of human settlements.
At the time, the contract was intended for the removal of harmful asbestos from homes in the province.
It was reported that government officials in the Free State received R27m in bribes related to this tender.
Former ANC secretary-general Magashule and his co-accused, including former Mangaung mayor Olly Mamleli and controversial businessman Edwin Sodi are facing charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) in the matter.
Their trial has been set down from April 15 to June 23, 2025 in the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein.
The Star