Photo: Flickr / Ace Magashule
Photo: Flickr / Ace Magashule
ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule is the subject of a criminal complaint to the Hawks on Wednesday, after a DA representative filed charges against the veteran politician.
Leona Kleynhans is an MPL in Free State. She has followed up on a report from the Public Protector last week, which revealed an ‘asbestos contract’ between the local Department of Human Settlements and a private business had fiddled funds to the tune of over R200 million. Kleynhans issued a statement, saying:
“Today I have requested the Priority Crime Investigating Unit, otherwise known as the Hawks, to investigate Ace Magashule and Olly Mlamleli, two senior politicians with regards to the so-called Free State government asbestos contract. Magashule in particular cannot say he was unaware of the contracts.”
“The Public Protector issued her report on an investigation into this contract last week in which she found serious maladministration, gross negligence of fiduciary duties, and misappropriation of public funds to the tune of R208 million. Despite his oath of office, Magashule simply ignored the blatant plunder of public cash.”
Leona Kleynhans
The DA has reviewed the case, and in an affidavit submitted to The Hawks on Wednesday, they accuse the then-Free State Premier of ‘blindly ignoring’ all warnings about the illegal deal: Their submission claims:
Olly Mlamleli, the current Mayor of Magaung, has also been reported to Hawks by Kleynhans. It’s understood that she had previously told a judge in a previous court case that ‘she would ensure that no payments would be made until’ the court had ruled on the urgency of the matter. That promise was seemingly broken.
The Hawks will now follow-up with the Public Protector’s findings, and consider if any case can be brought against the two prominent politicians. But the teflon-constructed Ace Magashule is a hard man to pin down.