Ace Magashule’s ex-PA continues legal bid to halt asbestos fraud prosecution

Former Free State Premier Ace Magashule’s personal assistant, Moroadi Cholota, will have to wait until next month to know if the bid to prosecute her in the asbestos fraud and corruption case will proceed.

Cholota initially escaped prosecution last year when the Bloemfontein High Court ruled in favour of her special plea to challenge her extradition from the United States, claiming it was unlawful and driven by malice because she refused to testify against Magashule.

However, the state appealed the judgment to the Constitutional Court.

The apex court last week agreed that Cholota’s extradition from the US was unlawful but set aside the decision by the lower court not to prosecute her.

Cholota will now have a second chance to argue the other grounds of her special plea to avoid corruption charges when the trial-within-a-trial continues next month.

Judge Philip Loubser ruled on the matter during brief proceedings in the Bloemfontein High Court on Monday.

"The trial within a trial is therefore postponed to Tuesday the 3rd of February 2026. The court will do its best to deliver judgment in the trial within a trial as directed by the Constitutional Court on 18 February 2026. The main trial of all the accused is postponed to the 2nd of March 2026," Loubser said.

When the main trial resumes in March, all the accused will be tried for fraud and corruption linked to a R255 million asbestos tender.