Former Free State Premier and suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule said he was ready to appear in court.
“I can assure you in my life I have never been involved in corruption,” Magashule said while being interviewed by a national broadcaster.
Magashule is facing 21 charges of fraud and corruption related to the R225 million asbestos removal tender during his tenure as premier.
He is out on R200 000 bail alongside his co-accused.
Magashule said he saw a headline which read “Magashule is delaying” but he said this was not the case. “We have been asking the NPA, the prosecution for information because remember by law we are entitled to information,” he said.
In recent weeks, the eBuhleni Shembe Church in Joburg has held special prayer sessions for him ahead of his corruption trial.
On Wednesday, Magashule attended a thanksgiving service hosted by the church where its members could be seen embracing and welcoming him.
When asked about his recent church attendance, he said: “I am a churchgoer, I grew up in a Christian family, I am a Methodist, I don’t go to churches when it’s election year or when one has problems, (but) I do go to churches.” “It is not only prayer; it is what we do,” he added.
“This is a political trial. That’s why I want to be in the box. I want to be there so that South Africans know the truth, that I have been in Parliament for 25 years and I did not do anything wrong… then suddenly in the last years of my term, I do something wrong which is corruption,” he said.
He said that he supports the ANC resolutions in terms of fighting corruption and crime. “There are no charges. In the media there are 70 charges against Magashule and I asked them to tell me one charge people will say corruption. If you say 70 charges, can you read those 70 charges so that the public knows about the 70 charges because the indictment is there, it is a public document,” he said.
“I can assure you in my life I have never been involved in corruption but it’s for me, the police and NPA to prove the case. I am still saying this is genuinely a political trial,” Magashule stated.
According to Magashule, he believes there are people in the ANC who are trying to implicate him. He also said he will name those people.
“Even then the top six of the ANC said this trial is flimsy, these are flimsy charges. The entire top six supported me,” he said.
He said the reason that the ANC had lost the Gauteng metro is because the ANC is fighting corruption. “The ANC is fighting itself. For 10 years the ANC has been fighting corruption. The ANC should deliver services to our people,” he said.
Political Bureau