Suspended ANC secretary general Ace Magashule and his co accused will be appearing at the Bloemfontein High court on Monday, 21 February 2021, for pretrial in the multimillion asbestos corruption trial.
In 2014, two companies were awarded with a R255 million tender by the Free State human settlement department. Blackhead Consulting and Diamond Hill were awarded contacts to audit and assess the houses in the Free State for asbestos roofing. Millions of rands were paid for 300 000 low-cost houses to be inspected but no work ever took place.
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Ace Magashule was the Premier of the Free State at the time, and it is believed that under his watch the corruption took place. Contracts were signed illegally, and no accountability took place for the asbestos case. The former premier is alleged to have condoned the misuse of funds and received gratifications on behalf of the late owner of Diamond Hill Trading, Ignatius Mpambani. Magashule is charged with lack of oversight as he was Premier at the time.
Ace and his co accused had made an appearance at the court and received bail which ranged R50 000 to R500 000. Among Ace’s co accused is Edwin Sodi, a controversial businessman. Edwin Sodi appeared before the State Capture commission where he disclosed all the shenanigans that took place. His expensive cars were repossessed valued at R10 millions which include Porsche Cayenne S Coupe, a black Mercedes Benz C32AMG, A white 2017 Rolce Royce Ghost Family Dawn, Ferrari’s, Bentley’s and properties worth millions of rands.
Ace maintains that he is innocent and says the charges against him are frivolous and politically motivated.
Source: The South African, IOL, Times Live and image from The South African
