Ace Magashule ‘welcomes’ charges, will be vindicated
Magashule said that the charges were part of a larger conspiracy against him and the ANC.
ANC’s Secretary General Ace Magashule appears in the dock during his first appearance in court on corruption charges in Bloemfontein, South Africa, 13 November 2020. A warrant for arrest was issued for Ace Magashule earlier in the week in connection with corruption which has been a major issue in the ruling party since the end of Apartheid rule. The warrant has been issued in relation to Magashule’s alleged role in a contract to find and remove asbestos from homes in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the Free State province. Picture: EPA-EFE/CONRAD BORNMAN
Ace Magashule has welcomed the fraud, corruption and money laundering charges brought against him, as his trail will ultimately prove his innocence and vindicate him.
Accused number 13 is facing 21 charges alongside 12 co-accused and was granted R200,000 bail in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
The former Free State Premier and current ANC secretary-general, in an interview with eNCA, insisted that he had never acted in a corrupt manner.
“It is good that this thing happened (his arrest and the trail) because I will then be able to show the public of South Africa that I’m not corrupt,” said.
“I welcome the charges.”
Trumped up charges
Magashule said that the charges were part of a larger conspiracy against him and the ANC.
“I will expose how some of the trumped up charges have been concocted,” he said, adding that it was part of an agenda to “narrow the base of the ANC”.
He also alluded to the poisoning of ANC members during the interview.
“They don’t want people like us who champion the cause, first and foremost, of blacks in general and Africans in particular.”
Magashule said black and African people are being marginalised and that “everything is going to the oppressor”.
“We have no land, we are propertyless, we own nothing.”
The former Premier added that he was unfazed by the news that his former personal assistant, Moroadi Cholota, has become a state witness.
ALSO READ: Cholota’s testimony could prove crucial to Magashule case – experts
“She must say whatever she knows and that will be fine,” he said, adding that evidence needs to be presented in court.
When asked if he would step aside if asked to do so by the ANC National Executive Committee, he reiterated his that this would only happen it the party’s branches demanded it.
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