{"id":35898,"date":"2026-01-23T15:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T13:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/?p=35898"},"modified":"2026-01-23T15:09:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T13:09:00","slug":"concourt-upholds-ruling-declaring-cholotas-extradition-unlawful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/2026\/01\/23\/concourt-upholds-ruling-declaring-cholotas-extradition-unlawful\/","title":{"rendered":"ConCourt upholds ruling declaring Cholota’s extradition unlawful"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image credit: X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Constitutional Court<\/a> has upheld the Free State High Court ruling that Ace Magashule’s former Personal Assistant (PA), Moroadi Cholota<\/a>, from the United States was unlawful.<\/p>\n

However, the Apex court found that this does not deprive South African courts of jurisdiction to prosecute her.<\/p>\n

Cholota was extradited in 2024 after spending four months in American prisons to face corruption and money-laundering charges linked to the 255-million-rand Free State asbestos case. She is among 18 accused, including former ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and businessman Edwin Sodi.<\/p>\n

The accused are alleged to have failed to replace hazardous asbestos roofs at more than 300,000 homes in Free State townships.<\/p>\n

Welcoming the ruling, the 38-year-old Cholota, claimed she was tortured and intimidated by detectives when she was being brought back into the country.<\/p>\n

“I think the nation also watched as I was taken away from my university where I was studying,\u00a0\u00a0unlawfully brought to this country, chained and accompanied by countless men with guns, and this after I had to spend still time in jail. As you’ve all watched, I was brought into court shackled, which is something that none of my former accused went through,” Cholota said.\u00a0“I was paraded before TV cameras and humiliated before the nations. The state fought for me to be jailed pending this trial. They had never made such a claim against my former accused. If it had not been for my strong team, which I’m grateful for, I would still be jailed\u00a0\u00a0awaiting this trial and not being able to fight it the way I’m fighting it now.”<\/p>\n\t

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