DA calls on Ramaphosa to show courage and leadership in tackling Magashule’s web of Free State capture

31 July 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Free State are unsurprised by the latest revelations of yet another Magashule family scandal.

Through answers received from Treasury, the DA can now confirm that an entity known as Mtheko Projects, which provided liquid soap and masks, as well as an entity known as Marvel Deeds, which provided hand sanitizers, are companies in which the sons of former Premier of the Free State and current ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule, are listed as directors. These companies also happen to be on the procurement list of Covid-19 service providers, which benefited from tenders from the Free State provincial government.

This again demonstrates that Ace Magashule still has his tentacles entrenched in the Free State coffers. Cronyism and nepotism continue to take precedence over the lives and livelihoods of Free Staters.

After a week of budget debates, in which the members from the ANC doggedly defended against the DA’s accusations of continued corruption and nepotism in the Free State, it appears that that ANC had yet another Ace up their sleeves.

Whilst President Cyril Ramaphosa whole-heartedly continues to confirm the notion that the governing party will not stand for any form of corruption and misuse of state funds during this pandemic, it appears that the Magashule family have again positioned themselves as a kingpins in orchestrating the blatant abuse of tender processes in the Free State.

The DA calls upon the ANC to investigate the allegations levelled against their Secretary-General, and will prepare follow-up questions to Free State MEC for Treasury Gadija Brown, to provide a detailed report on all the expenditure during Covid-19, as well as the information on the companies and the procurement processes that were followed.

The time has come for President Ramaphosa to step up and investigate the allegations against Mr Magashule, or fear being labelled “Mr talk a lot - do little”. This will be a test of Ramaphosa’s resolve to see if the President has the back bone to stand up to his Secretary-General, to put the interests of South Africa over the interests of his party. It is now or never.

Issued by David van Vuuren, DA Chief Whip of the Official Opposition in the Free State Legislature, 31 July 2020