THE WARRANT for the arrest of Ace Magshule has been issued and will be served on Friday.
But the ANC secretary-general is putting on a defiant face and playing it down.
“I’M NOT WORRIED AT ALL,” HE SAID.
The Hawks have confirmed that Magashule will be appearing on Friday in relation to the multimillion rand Free State asbestos project.
“He’ll be served on Friday through his lawyer,” Lynda Steyn of the Hawks told Daily Sun.
But Magashule told reporters during campaigning in Soweto he wasn’t aware of any warrant and would talk to his lawyer later.
Steyn said Magashule hadn’t been served with a warrant, but his lawyer was made aware. The lawyer wasn’t available for comment and didn’t return text messages.
It’s understood the warrant was signed on Tuesday.
Steyn said Magashule faced fraud and corruption charges. Magashule said rumours of his arrest had been reported on for months.
“This thing has been coming for a long time now,” he said.
ANC spokesman Pule Mabe said: “The secretary-general advised the ANC he’ll be in consultation with his legal team to best respond to latest developments and guide any response on the matter.
“He stated on more than one occasion, including through his legal team, he’d co-operate with any process undertaken by law enforcement agencies.”
He said the ANC would monitor developments closely and reply should the need arise.
The charges stem from the 2014 Free State asbestos project, which featured prominently at the state capture inquiry. The commission heard evidence from several witnesses about the illegality of a tender awarded by the Free State human settlements department to a joint-venture between Blackhead Consulting and Diamond Hill.
Evidence heard at the inquiry confirmed the tender was awarded without proper procurement processes being followed.
Edwin Sodi, owner of Blackhead, admitted at the commission he didn’t reveal to the Free State government his company had no certification to remove asbestos.
The deal was subcontracted twice and the second contractor was to do the work for R21 million, allowing Diamond Hill and Blackhead to make a profit of about R200 million without doing any work.
Former Free State head of human settlements, Nthimotse Mokhesi, admitted the department failed to do proper procurement work regarding the tender.
The commission heard Sodi made a “property deal” with Mokhesi, which saw him paying R650 000 towards a house registered under a trust fund managed by Mokhesi.
The house was bought just after Mokhesi gave the go-ahead to the asbestos tender.
Sodi apparently made a R600 000 payment to a car dealership, allowing Thabane Zulu to buy a vehicle.
Zulu, at the time national human settlements director-general, had been instrumental in ensuring funds were made available for the asbestos tender.
