Central SA
NPA weighs in on Constitutional Court challenge after Cholota victory─── KEKELETSO MOSEBETSI 15:35 Wed, 02 Jul 2025
The NPA is considering approaching the Constitutional Court to challenge a recent Free State High Court decision involving the controversial R255 million asbestos corruption case.
The court ruled that Ace Magashule’s former personal assistant Moroadi Cholota should be released after the court declared her arrest and extradition unlawful.
The judgment, handed down last month in the Bloemfontein court, focused on the legality of Cholota’s extradition from the United States. On Monday (30/6), the NPA filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), requesting leave to appeal the decision made by Judge Phillip Loubser in the Free State High Court.
The petition revolves around the court’s decision to dismiss the NPA’s request for questions of law to be reserved under Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
NPA spokesperson Adv. Mthunzi Mhaga expressed strong disagreement with the ruling, asserting that Judge Loubser had erred in dismissing the application.
“The NPA is of the firm view that there are reasonable prospects of success in appealing the Cholota judgment,” said Mhaga. “We are also exploring the possibility of approaching the Constitutional Court, challenging the same judgment, given the possible far-reaching implications on many other extradition matters.”
Judge Loubser’s ruling centred on the claim that South African authorities had failed to follow proper legal procedures in requesting Cholota’s extradition. The judge pointed out that two South African courts had already determined that the extradition process had been unlawful.
“The USA authority relied on this information in good faith and actioned the extradition on an unknowingly unlawful basis,” Loubser stated in his judgment.
“The extradition of accused 17, Moradi Cholota, is unlawful. As such, this court is precluded from trying the offences she is charged with, as the unlawfulness of the extradition renders the restriction of the South African criminal court void.”
Cholota, once expected to serve as a key state witness in the high-profile asbestos case, found herself among the accused when the charges related to a failed R255 million asbestos roofing eradication project surfaced during Magashule’s time as premier of the Free State.
