Today, the Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC), and former Premier of the Free State, Elias Sekgobelo Magashule, was brought before the Bloemfontein Regional Court with 21 charges of fraud, money laundering and corruption.
These charges relate to the illegal payments made in connection with the controversial asbestos housing tender saga, which the Democratic Alliance (DA) first brought to the Bloemfontein High Court in July of 2015.
The DA is relieved that Mr Magashule will at last appear before court for the pain and suffering he has brought for over 32,500 families who still live in houses with dangerous asbestos roofs in the Free State.
These are the families we must keep in mind, when we hear in the coming months about the wheelings and dealings of the various officials and cronies, and their jostling for portions of the loot which was extracted from the Free State Department of Public Works and Human Settlements in the name of these poor people.
It was the fake concern for the wellbeing of these disadvantaged people, which provided the justification for this looting.
When we hear about the luxury cars purchased and the palaces built which were bought with money from state coffers, we will remember those who contracted asbestosis and tuberculosis to fund these extravagant lifestyles.
This is truly a tragedy which was perpetrated upon the people of the Free State by their elected ANC leaders, the very leaders who stood on stages and promised ‘a better life for all’ and spoke of a ‘good story to tell’ while buying votes with T-shirts and food parcels during elections.
And leading the charge to ensure continued power and access to government funds was Ace Magashule. We can still hear the rallying cries of “Ace! Ace! Aaace!” How the people loved him and his false Operation Hlasela promises!
We now hope that Ace Magashule has reached the end of his impunity. He will now have to explain to the criminal justice system what his role was in conceiving and implementing this grand theft.
He will have to explain how, even if he was not involved in the planning of the scheme, he failed to act when he had learnt about the monies being laundered out of the government coffers.
He will have to explain how he was involved in the many other corrupt schemes which were implemented in the Free State, such as the Vrede Dairy Project, the Ramkraal scheme, the dozens of other fake agricultural schemes, the overseas student bursary schemes, the destruction of Agriqwa and the Free State Development Corporation, as well as the donations of state properties to cronies.
The list seemingly has no end. And we believe that the asbestos case is only the beginning of Ace Magashule’s fight within the criminal justice system.
It is shameful that the ANC have not been prepared to speak out against Mr Magashule and their refusal to suspend him as SG speaks volumes on the party’s stance on corruption.
The ANC have to date also not been clear on how they plan to handle Mr Ace Magashule and Mr Bongani Bongo’s corruption charges. Whilst Ace Magashule remains the only high profile ANC cadre facing corruption charges, the DA want to see others within the governing party following suite, as it remains clear that the organisation is corrupt to the core.
We as the DA will be watching with close interest how these grand schemes are slowly unravelled before court. And we will weep at every revelation of how the poorest people were used as the instruments for plunder.
We will watch as more and more of the evil heart of darkness is exposed.
The DA will ensure that the wheels of justice continue to grind relentlessly until the price has been paid for what has been done to the beautiful people of the Free State.
We will continue to fight doggedly until hope can once more be restored in the hearts of the hopeless, and that they too can again look forward to a better future.
Get to know newly elected DA leader, John Steenhuisen, and invest in the 2021 Local Government Election campaign. Click here.