OPINION: King Ace finally gets his comeuppance | AdriaanBasson
When Zuma appointed Magashule as premier of the Free State in 2009, the doors to the provincial treasury were flung open and"King Ace", as some in the province refer to him, finally had unfettered access to the poor province's largesse, writes Adriaan Basson.
Yes, this feels long ago, but there was a time in the ANC when having corruption clouds hanging over your head actually disqualified you from being promoted by the organisation.All of this changed in December 2007 when Jacob Zuma was elected party president in Polokwane with the help of rogues like Magashule who saw Msholozi as a get-out-of-jail ticket. They were right.
Opaque meetings at the Shell Ultra City in Kroonstad, bogus contracts typed on a laptop to formalise"facilitation fees"… it was all part of the reign of King Ace. I am exceptionally glad that former News24 investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh took the time and effort to produce his excellent book, that finally blows the lid off Magashule's reign of looting and deceit.The book is a horror story of what happens to a province, particularly one in the rural parts of South Africa with little media attention, when a crooked politician takes the reigns.
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