Free State Hawks spokesperson, Lynda Steyn, says Magashule will appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Friday in connection with the 2013/14 asbestos housing project that dominated media headlines in September. 

This development comes a day before the former Free State Premier’s alleged accomplices return to the same courthouse for their second appearance. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Sipho Ngwenya, tells OFM News prosecutor Johan De Nyscchen will make some important revelations regarding the case on Wednesday. 

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Johannesburg company Blackhead Consulting, Edwin Sodi, former head of the Free State Human Settlements Department Nthimotse Mokhesi;  businessman Sello Radebe; the former Director-General (DG) of the National Human Settlements Department Thabane Zulu; and ousted Mangaung Metro Mayor Olly Mlamleli were all released on bail ranging between R50 000 and R500 000 on October 2. Sodi was awarded a tender worth R255 million in a joint venture with Diamond Hill Trading, owned by slain Welkom businessman Igo Mpambani, by the Free State Human Settlements Department in 2014.

In his testimony at the Zondo Commission, Sodi admitted failure to declare that his company had no accreditation to carry out the entire project and that he had invested in a residential property in Bloemfontein with the then provincial head of the Human Settlements department, Mokhesi. 

Mokhesi could, however, during his testimony not respond to questions as to why Sodi invested R650 000 in the house he lived in just months after his department awarded the joint venture the R255 million contract. Zulu, on the other end, is said to have benefited from a R600 000 payment towards the purchase of a Range Rover made by Sodi in KwaZulu-Natal in December 2016. Mlamleli was the then MEC of the provincial Human Settlements Department.

The tender was also subject to an investigation by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane who highlighted the same concerning irregularities. Mkhwebane revealed the Free State was in possession of the Gauteng Department's Legal Service Agreement, which had expired, and went ahead to pay the service provider despite the Auditor-General having declared the procurement as irregular, as early as 31 July 2015.

Mkhwebane said: "The Department created the impression that they participated in a contract concluded by another state institution [Gauteng Department] while the services were not the same as specified in the existing contract and also the price was higher." She said this was in contravention of Treasury regulations and amounts to improper conduct.

OFM News