Staff Reporter
The civil litigation case in which former Free State premier Ace Magashule and three co-accused in the asbestos corruption case are seeking the withdrawal of charges against them will resume in the Free State High Court Tuesday.
Magashule, who has since been suspended as the ANC secretary-general, has teamed up with former head of the human settlements department in the Free State, Nthimotse Mokhesi, businessman Edwin Sodi and Thabane Wiseman Zulu to have all charges against them thrown out by the court.
Legal counsel for Mokhesi, Sodi, and Zulu on Monday argued that the state is relying on evidence gathered from the State Capture Commission and is therefore infringing on the accused’s right to a fair trial.
The trio is claiming through their legal representatives that they were arrested just a few weeks after testifying at the State Capture Commission, meaning the state strongly relied on the evidence they gave.
This, they say, is against the law because any self-incriminating evidence they gave at the commission cannot be used against them in a court of law.
“There are large portions in his evidence . . . where he incriminates himself,” Advocate Christo Meiring, who is representing Mokhesi, told court.
“He was asked questions about his handling of the asbestos project . . . approving the project and awarding it. At one stage in his affidavit, he said ‘I now realise in hindsight that I did not handle it correctly. And that evidence has been placed before the commission.”
But the state dismissed this in its heads of argument saying for the purpose of the corruption charges against Mokhesi it’s not basing its criminal charges on the evidence he gave at the State Capture Commission.
“The state has not sought to rely on any self-incriminating evidence he gave at the inquiry,” the state asserts.
Sodi and Zulu are represented by advocates Laurence Hodes and Solly Maakane.
The counsel for Magashule is expected to present its arguments before Judge Soma Naidoo at 9am on Tuesday.
The pre-trial conference in which the four are jointly charged with 12 others including companies in the corruption case has been postponed to June 10.