Moroadi Cholota appeared in court this week. Picture: NPA
Moroadi Cholota, the former personal assistant to Ace Magashule made her second appearance in the High Court in Bloemfontein on Tuesday where she faces charges of fraud and corruption pertaining to the R255 million Free State asbestos scandal dating back to 2014.
The 37-year-old Political Science student was extradited from the US in August this year.
She is charged alongside 18 others including her former boss Ace Magashule and businessman Edwin Sodi.
Cholota has been cited as the 17th accused in the 110-page State indictment.
She was arrested by US authorities in April this year, while she was a student at the Bay Atlantic University in Maryland.
Cholota is currently out on R2,500 bail and has maintained her innocence, citing the State’s case against her as “weak”.
The State will allege that all the accused stole an amount of R255 million for removal of asbestos roofing.
Magashule, during his State of the Province Address in the Free State on June 26, 2014, made mention of the project to eradicate cancer-causing asbestos roofing in the Free State which would take place from 2014 to 2019.
The State further alleges that none of the work was ever done on the 300,000 houses.
In the indictment, the State further claims that proper procurement processes were not followed.
The State will further alleged that the contracts between the Department of Human Settlement in the Free State and businessman Edwin Sodi and his company Blackhead Consulting were illegal and irregular.
The State further alleges that Cholota as a personal assistant to Magashule, her tasks included handling of correspondence and assisting in the scheduling of meetings and trips on behalf of him.
The State alleges that the duo accepted a gratification from Ignatius Mpambani for an amount of R470,000 to M-TAG Systems for the acquisition of 200 electronic tablets.
Mpambani who was the director of Diamond Hill Trading, cited as accused 5 in the indictment, was murdered in Sandton in 2017.
They are further accused of taking a R250,000 gratification from Mpambani which was paid to Astra Travel towards travel expenses of a delegation to Cuba.
The matter is expected to return to court on December 4, 2024.
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