The state’s sworn statement contained no evidence to support the claim that Moraadi Cholota, the former personal assistant to former Free State premier Ace Magashule, accused of corruption, posed a flight risk. There was evidence that she could be found if needed and her life would be put on hold if she were held in custody until the asbestos case was resolved.
This was the gist of the verdict delivered by Magistrate Estelle de Lange on Thursday in the Bloemfontein District Court, when she granted Cholota bail of R2,500.
As for the conditions of bail, Cholota may not leave Bloemfontein without the permission of the investigating officer and must report to the Park Road police station every Monday and Friday.
In granting the low bail, the court accepted the arguments of Cholota’s lawyer Loyiso Makapela, namely that Cholota was unemployed and had no financial resources.
The state had opposed Cholota’s request for bail, arguing she posed a flight risk. Cholota was extradited last week from the US, where she was studying.
Cholota has been in custody since her arrest in the US on April 12. A US court heard that South African authorities had charged her with four counts of fraud and five counts of corruption. Her extradition was pending. approved in June by the Maryland District Court.
She is accused along with Magashule and others of the R255 million asbestos scandal in the Free State.
The other co-defendants are businessman Edwin Sodi, former director-general of the National Department of Human Settlements Thabane Zulu, as well as Nthimotse Mokhesi, Mahlomola Matlakala, Sello Radebe, Adel Kgotso Manyeki, Nozipho Molikoe, Albertus Venter, Margaret-Ann Diedericks, and former MEC and Mangaung mayor Olly Mlamleli.
The companies Blackhead Consulting, 602 Consulting Solutions, Mastertrade 232 and Ori Group have also been charged.
Cholotas testimony before the State Capture Commission in 2019 is key to this process. It revealed much about the mediating role she played in allegedly soliciting financial favors from people like murdered businessman Igo Mpambani on Magashule’s behalf.
Read more: Wife of murdered Ace Magashule ‘bagman’ in R20 million SARS case
Cholota’s answering arguments
Cholota said she was not guilty of the charges against her.
Read more: ‘I am innocent of all charges,’ says Ace Magashule’s former PA on her first day in Bloem court
She denied the state’s claim that she never intended to return to South Africa to face trial.
“I was already studying at Bay Atlantic University [in Washington, DC] when the Zondo Commission sent me a summons requesting me to appear before the Commission and give oral evidence.”
She said she had traveled to Johannesburg from the US to testify.
“The investigators always knew where I was and what I was doing. I never avoided a trial because there was no trial going on. The state just chose to file a request for my extradition,” she said.
Cholota said the state had hired a private firm, FTI Consulting, to conduct a forensic examination of her. The report was included in the South African government’s request for her extradition.
“I understand that the extradition request was sent to the US in 2022, which means that the state has gone so far as to hire private forensic investigators to look for more evidence to give the impression of a credible case to the US.
“The asbestos case was investigated extensively by other state agencies, in addition to the State Capture Commission. In none of the reports was I ever mentioned, let alone involved. It speaks volumes to the lengths the state would go to to falsely accuse someone, that they would even hire private forensic investigators,” she said.
Choloto said the state had suggested her alleged crimes amounted to R86.5 million, which she said “is nowhere found in the current indictment. I am informed that this is an appalling display of the state’s contempt for lawful and constitutional criminal proceedings.”
Cholota’s ‘secret bank account’
In response, prosecutor Johannes de Nysschen said the defence had misread the charges. All the charges, he said, Cholota would be charged with added up to R86.5 million.
When appointing FTI Consulting, he told the court that the Hawks’ investigating officer included with his statement an excerpt from the company’s report on the saga, which ran to more than 30,000 pages.
He said Cholota played a key role in the alleged corruption case and that investigators discovered she had two bank accounts, one for her salary and a second that was “like a secret account”.
He said Cholota received thousands of rands from service providers doing business with the Free State government. He said there were cash deposits into the account linked to Magashule and government contractors.
“This is completely illegal. Cholota was involved in many underhand practices,” De Nysschen said.
He said the FTI report “found that Magashule and Cholota had a relationship that went beyond the normal duties of a personal assistant and that she was entrusted with the private affairs of the then Prime Minister”.
“As we stated in the indictment, when R15, R20 or R30 million was deposited into their accounts, the emails were sent from Cholota. Magashule and Cholota used their positions to solicit payments from service providers for the benefit of other government officials or for their possible personal benefit, or to defraud the department and misappropriate funds intended for students,” it said. The Nysschen.
Judge De Lange reiterated that the main argument against bail was that the state saw Cholota as a flight risk.
“I find no evidence in the State’s affidavit to support the claim that Cholota poses a flight risk and that there is a chance she will not appear in court…
“It is safe to conclude that this will be a lengthy, drawn-out process that could take months or years to conclude. Cholota’s life will come to a standstill if she is held in custody until the case is concluded,” De Lange said.
The matter has been adjourned until Friday, when a provisional date will be set for the case to be heard at the Bloemfontein High Court. DM
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