Cape Town — The Bloemfontein High Court has dismissed Moroadi Cholota’s application to have the fraud and money laundering charges against her declared unconstitutional and invalid.
Cholota, the former Personal Assistant (PA) to Ace Magashule, currently faces charges linked to an R255 million Asbestos project in the Free State, dating back to 2014. She was arrested in the USA in April 2024 and was extradited to South Africa in August 2024, where she has since appeared in court several times.
The Free State High Court dismissed Cholota’s attempt to have her arrest declared unlawful. Judge Denise Coetzer dismissed her application with costs on Thursday. The state alleged that Choltoa was in charge of handling the documents and arranging Magashule’s affairs while he was allegedly defrauding the state, The Citizen reported.
She was granted bail in August and she has been adamant that she has done nothing wrong. A political student from the University of Maryland challenged the Free State Director of Prosecutions by saying they had a weak case against her, IOL reported.
Ace Magashule’s ex-PA, Moroadi Cholota’s, application should have been dismissed out of hand as vexatious. Probably not that it matters much because, this being a prominent state capture case, the NPA is sure to bungle it soon enough and the perpetrators will get to walk free. pic.twitter.com/pFqhO54az7
— 𝐂𝐨𝐧-𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 (@ConTesterX) January 24, 2025
During her latest court appearance, the judgement was reserved on 7 November 2024 and the judgement was delivered on Thursday.
“Upon consideration of all the facts placed before the court, the facts in the State’s possession disclose that there is a prima facie case for prosecution owing to the payments for education and other activities facilitated by Ms Cholota from persons involved in the Asbestos Eradication Project and there are reasonable prospects of success for prosecution emanating against Ms Cholota from these payments, Judge Venter said.
Venter said Cholota repeated references to the bursary scheme which was involved in her replying affidavit. Venter said she has a case to answer as to why certain businessmen connected to the Asbestos project were approached by her for gratifications, adding that it was up to the trial court to determine if the charges against her lacked reasonable grounds.
In her affidavit, Cholota said she had assisted the Zondo Commission in distinguishing bursary schemes and financial assistance for students. She said the State Capture Commission’s Report found nothing about her role in the bursary scheme.
The State argued that Cholota did not voluntarily return to South Africa and fought her extradition both in the United States and South Africa.
The State further alleged that Cholota received several payments from persons related to Magashule, being service providers or parties related to them in her personal Capitec banking account.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
