The Bloemfontein High Court, on Monday, dismissed applications by African National Congress suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule and co-accused to have charges of fraud and corruption against them dropped.
Magashule and his co-accused face multiple charges of fraud and corruption related to the R225-million asbestos removal tender during his tenure as the premier of Free State.
In January, Magashule lost his bid to have his suspension from the ruling party overturned when the appeal court dismissed the application, the Bloemfontein High Court postponed his pre-trial case to June 10.
Magashule concurrently applied to have the charges against him withdrawn.
Four of his 15 co-accused, who also face charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering, also applied for the charges to be withdrawn.
The State, at the time, filed papers to have Magashule’s former personal assistant, Moroadi Cholota, repatriated from the US to give evidence.
“The NPA welcomes the judgment and will now focus on ensuring that the pretrial conference is concluded on the next court date so that a trial date can be arranged. We have always maintained that all the matters raised by the accused should be ventilated by the trial court when the trial proceedings commence. The NPA has full confidence in the strength of its case and will let the evidence speak for itself during the trial,” said the National Prosecuting Authority in a statement on Monday.
Also read: Court postpones Magashule’s fraud, corruption pre-trial case
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