After four months in jail, Magashule’s former PA Moroadi Cholota gets bail

After spending more than four months in jail, Moroadi Cholota, Free State ex-premier Ace Magashule's former personal assistant, has regained her freedom as she was granted bail by the Bloemfontein magistrate's court on Thursday.

Cholota is accused in a R255m corruption case.

Cholota, making her third appearance at the court, was granted R2,500 bail despite the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) having opposed the application, arguing she was a “flight risk”. She made her first court appearance on Monday, days after her extradition from the US where she had been in jail since April 12. 

Magistrate Estelle de Lange ordered Cholota to be released immediately after paying bail, saying the state had not proven she was flight risk.

“The state argued that they regarded the applicant [Cholota] as a flight risk. The applicant is facing charges which are obviously of a serious nature. It relates to elements of dishonesty but does not relate to elements of violence,” she said.

“I did not find any evidence in the affidavit of the state to support the claim that the applicant is a flight risk and will not stand trial,” De Lange said. “It is important to remember that there must not only be a suspicion or fear of a flight risk, but there must be a likelihood that she is a flight risk and that she will not stand trial. This likelihood must be based on evidence.”

De Lange was confident the corruption trial, which has been dragging on for years and involves Magashule and 15 Free State government officials accused of being linked to a corrupt scheme over a tender awarded to corruption-accused businessman Edwin Sodi, would take long.

“She has been in custody for four months and most of that was in the US. If I look at the charges, the number of the accused and the amounts involved, it is safe to conclude that this will be a lengthy, drawn-out trial which could take several months or even years to finalise.

“Her life will come to a standstill if she is detained in custody until the matter is finalised. Her defence proved to the court that it is in the interest of justice to grant bail.” 

Cholota was granted bail with conditions including not being allowed to travel outside Bloemfontein without the consent of the investigating officer.

“The accused will appear in court for every postponement date. The accused may not leave the boundaries of Bloemfontein without the consent of the investigating officer. The accused shall report to the police station every Monday and Friday between 8am and 5pm,” De Lange said. 

She will return to court on Friday for a high court trial date. 

On Tuesday, the state had argued it had “overwhelming” evidence that Cholota was not an accessory to alleged fraud but an accomplice. NPA lead prosecutor Johan de Nysschen read in court the affidavit of the investigating officer, Benjamin Calitz, in which he argued that the government lost R86m in fraud.

He said the state had a paper trail to prove its allegations against Cholota. 

“She was informed in September 2021 that the state had access to her laptop, email accounts and documents and had questions on what [was] canvassed at the state capture [commission] as well,” Calitz's affidavit read. 

Cholota had argued the charges were prompted by what she claimed police perceived as a “lack of co-operation” when they sought information from her regarding the case after she was a witness in 2019 at the state capture inquiry led by chief justice Raymond Zondo. 

Calitz contended that though Cholota was initially informed she would be questioned as a state witness in the case, the state even then had questions about her role. Further investigations were pursued after what Calitz described as Cholota’s “lack of co-operation” in answering questions. 

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