The state says this is to enable authorities to continue further investigations into the R255 million project and to arrest three more suspects embroiled in the matter. Former Free State Premier and current ANC Secretary-General, Ace Magashule, has already been revealed to be one of the three people to be added to the list of suspects, after a warrant for his arrest was issued on Tuesday.

Free State Hawks spokesperson, Lynda Steyn, says Magashule is expected to hand himself over to police on Friday and shortly thereafter appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court for bail. The charges against Magashule aren’t public as yet but are expected to include corruption and money laundering.

His co-accused: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Johannesburg company Blackhead Consulting Edwin Sodi, former head of the Free State Human Settlements Department Nthimotse Mokhesi; businessman Sello Radebe; the former Director-General (DG) of the National Human Settlements Department Thabane Zulu; Supply Chain official at the Provincial Human Settlements Department Mahlomola Matlakala; businessman Kgotso Monyeki; and former Mangaung Metro Mayor Olly Mlamleli briefly appeared before the same court on Wednesday morning. 

They were granted bail in early October 2020 of between R50 000 and R500 000. At the time of the bail applications, prosecutor Johan de Nysschen said these are extremely serious charges that could land any one of the accused in jail for up to 15 years, and warned that the R100 000 was the price they had to pay for their involvement. De Nysschen also revealed the investigation into the matter is between 80 and 85% complete and he was ready to hand over the provisional indictment.

Sodi was awarded a tender worth R255 million in a joint venture with Diamond Hill Trading owned by slain Welkom businessman, Igo Mpambani, by the Free State Human Settlements Department in 2014. During his testimony at the State Capture Commission of Inquiry in September 2020, Sodi admitted failure to declare that his company had no accreditation to carry out the entire project. He further revealed he invested in residential property in Bloemfontein with Mokhesi. The former provincial Human Settlements HOD, during his own testimony before the commission, could not respond to questions as to why Sodi invested R650 000 in the house he lived in just months after his department awarded the joint venture the R255 million contract. 

Zulu, on the other end, is said to have benefited from a R600 000 payment towards the purchase of a Range Rover made by Sodi in KwaZulu-Natal in December 2016. Mlamleli was the MEC for Human Settlements in the Free State. The tender was also subject to an investigation by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane who highlighted some concerning irregularities.

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