A leaked audio recording has shed light on how Ace Magashule’s former PA refused to implicate her ex-boss when she was interrogated by Hawks investigators in connection with the Free State asbestos case.
This explains why the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) removed Moroadi Cholota from the witness list and intends to charge her alongside Magashule.
The recording reveals that Cholota asked the Hawks investigators and an FBI agent why the state had made her a witness without consulting her. The interview took place last month in Baltimore, US, where she is studying.
The state has begun an extradition process against her.
She was interrogated about several donation requests Magashule’s office sent to business people who had been awarded tenders in the Free State, some of whom face charges in the asbestos case.
LISTEN: What Ace Magashule’s PA told the Hawks
Magashule is an accused in the case and is facing charges of corruption and fraud, among others. He is accused of receiving “gratification” from Ignatius “Igo” Mpambani, who was awarded the R255m tender to audit asbestos roofing in the Free State.
Mpambani was asked on several occasions by Magashule’s office to make donations to students who the office was funding. Cholota, as Magashule’s PA at the time, was responsible for sending such requests.
But she refused to implicate Magashule in the requests for donations, saying she would write the e-mails herself and the donations would not go to her or Magashule but directly to the universities.
Cholota can be heard in the recording taking issue with the line of questioning that sought to have her implicate Magashule. She keeps telling her questioner that she was in charge of Magashule’s e-mails that had requested donations.
“You sent these e-mails on the requests of Magashule,” said the interrogator. She replies, “Office of the premier.”
The interrogator then says, “If you say office of the premier, you will have to be specific now, the office has to be a person, the office can’t … ”
Cholota insists: “No, the office of the premier would have to ask. When we are assisting people who come to the office of the premier, to me it’s the office of the premier who is assisting them.”
It was a request, not a directive that you must help these people
— Moroadi Cholota, Ace Magashule's former PA
Cholota then says she did things differently.
“OK that’s not how I did it. What I did was to request from the office of the premier because the people who would ask help would come to the office of the premier. So me handling it, I was handling it as the office of the premier.
“I was not saying the premier specifically said you must help this person. Because even when I asked, it was a request, not a directive that you must help these people. I would ask that ‘would you be able to assist us with this student?’ and so forth.”
When contacted yesterday, Cholota hung up the call. She did not answer subsequent calls.
Soon after the Hawks interview, the NPA informed Cholota’s lawyers, T Mukwani Attorneys, early this month that she would be treated as an accused and no longer as a state witness.
This has raised questions about whether the state tried to get Cholota to co-operate by telling her that she would not be prosecuted if she did.
Hawks spokesperson Thandi Mbambo confirmed that is was the outcome of the interview in the US that led to the decision to treat Cholota as a suspect.
"Based on the understanding of the outcome of the interview with the witness, the investigators returned and briefed the assigned prosecutor who decided to prosecute the said potential witness on behalf of the state."
Mbambo said a warrant of arrest had been issued against Cholota.
“She is expected to appear in court either voluntarily or through the extradition process, but the directorate shall not engage on the merits of the case. The case is with the NPA. They can contacted for more information,” said Mbambo.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.