First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.
Ace Magashule has created an image of himself as a man of the people – Saint Ace of the Free State, a saviour of the poor. While he insists there was no corruption in the Free State during his eight-year tenure as premier, his legacy is littered with failed, incomplete or stagnant projects and developments.
Magashule’s State of the Province addresses and public comments are peppered with promises of better housing, not “a kasi township”, improved access to healthcare and better services. But a closer look at some of the celebrated multimillion-rand projects launched while he was at the helm has shown them to be monumental flops that have cost the province hundreds of millions of rands while failing to deliver on his promises.
weekly newspaper.
Ace Magashule and 15 co-accused (including five companies), will have to answer to charges of fraud, theft, corruption, money laundering and more before a judge in the Bloemfontein High Court in August. The state’s application for a transfer to the higher court from the magistrate’s court was granted on Friday.
Magashule was joined in the dock by Johannesburg businessman and owner of Blackhead Consulting, Pheagane Edwin Sodi; director supply chain management in the Free State Department of Human Settlements (FSDHS), Mahlomola John Matlakala; Fourways businessman Sello Joseph Radebe; Pretoria businessman Abel Kgotso Manyeki; former director-general of the national Department of Human Settlements, Thabane Wiseman Zulu; and a former Free State MEC for human settlements and former mayor of Mangaung, Sarah Matawana Mlamleli.
R10m payment made despite Auditor-General declaring Free State asbestos audit contract irregular
Share
Johannesburg - One of the three senior government officials charged with fraud, corruption and money laundering alongside ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule approved a R10 million payment despite the Auditor-General declaring the R255m asbestos audit contract irregular.
The payment was authorised by Nozipho Molikoe, the chief financial officer of the Free State human settlements department, to controversial businessman Edwin Sodi s company Blackhead Consulting.
She was arrested on Thursday with the departmentâs chief engineer Thabiso Makepe and Albertus Venter, an attorney who was a senior official in Magashuleâs office during his tenure as Free State premier.
#AsbestosGate: Magashule before Integrity Commission ofm.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ofm.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.