NPA yet to decide next move after suffering legal blow in asbestos corruption case
This follows the court overturning former Free State Premier Ace Magashule’s ex-secretary’s extradition from the US.
FILE: National Prosecuting Authority offices in Pretoria. Picture: Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says it’s yet to decide on its next move after suffering a legal blow in the asbestos corruption matter at the Bloemfontein High Court on Tuesday.
This follows the court overturning former Free State Premier Ace Magashule’s ex-secretary’s extradition from the US.
Moroadi Cholota was hauled back to South Africa in a dramatic extradition that would see her added to a list of corruption-accused individuals in the R255 million asbestos trial.
In her special plea to the court, Cholota accused the State of lying to US authorities that there was reasonable and probable cause for the corruption charges against her.
ALSO READ: State prosecutors and investigators' conduct under scrutiny after Cholota extradition overturned
Her lawyers maintained she was only charged after she would not implicate her former boss, Ace Magashule, during a witness interview with the State’s investigators in 2021.
The Bloemfontein High Court says the NPA bundled the extradition process, which means the court cannot try her in the matter, leaving Cholota to walk scot-free.
Speaking moments after the judgment, NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said, “Because it is a judgement that has the effect of a final order, we are allowed to appeal it but at the moment, we'll have to regroup as a team and reflect o the judgment and see if there are grounds we can appeal it, given its impact.”
He says the judgment has no impact on the other accused, with the State ready to proceed with the main trial.