Moroadi Cholota, the former Personal Assistant (PA) of former Free State Premier Ace Magashule, has walked free after the Bloemfontein High Court ruled that her extradition from the USA was conducted unlawfully.

Judge Philip Loubser made the ruling this morning after Cholota made an application to have it set aside.

During submissions on the matter, Cholota’s legal team persistently argued that the State only indicted her after they could not arm-twist her to testify against Magashule and others in the ongoing asbestos trial. Cholota was brought back to SA under heavy security in August 2024, and she spent a few days behind bars before she was granted bail.

Loubser was very scathing in his ruling, saying South African authorities misled their US counterparts in order to get Cholota back to South Africa. Relying on a precedent set by the Supreme Court of Appeal, Loubser said only the Minister of Justice can make a request for an extradition to another country, and in the case of Cholota, that was not done, hence, he set the extradition aside, and Cholota walked free.

The Judge pointed out that the State had two months to correct this anomaly after the SCA made the ruling, but it opted to proceed with the flawed extradition process, which is against the constitution and the statutes around extradition of wanted individuals.

It now remains to be seen whether the latest developments will have any impact on the Magashule corruption trial or not.