Moroadi Cholota will stand trial in asbestos corruption case

The Free State High Court has ruled that former Free State Premier Ace Magashule’s ex personal assistant, Moroadi Cholota, will stand trial in the multi-million-rand asbestos corruption case.

The highly anticipated judgment follows months of legal wrangling in what’s become a drawn out corruption case involving Magashule, controversial businessman Edwin Sodi and other former Free State government officials.

Cholota was extradited from the United States (US) in 2024 where she was studying.

She challenged the Hollywood-style extradition as unlawful, raising questions about the court’s jurisdiction to try her in the asbestos matter.

In 2025, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) contested the High Court’s decision to let Cholota off the hook in the asbestos corruption trial.

The Constitutional Court unanimously upheld the ruling that the extradition was procedurally incorrect because the NPA led the process instead of the justice minister.

But the apex court said this wasn’t enough not to try Cholota and sent the matter back to the lower court to hear the remaining grounds of her special plea to avoid prosecution.

Cholota maintains that the State does not have a case against her.

An hour into proceedings, Judge Phillip Loubster handed down this judgment: “I find that the State has shown beyond a reasonable doubt that there is no merit in the remaining grounds of Mr Lothar's special plea.

“The following order is consequently made: 1. The remaining grounds of Mr Lothar's special plea are dismissed; 2, this court has jurisdiction to try Mr Lothar on the charges she is facing.”

This means Cholota will be back in the dock with Magashule and more than a dozen others when the main trial resumes in March.

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