FDC at board level and therefore have no ability to influence any
operational transactions.’
None of the implicated parties, however, were able to provide me with
a sound reason as to why Magashule visited the property along with
his daughter and FDC officials just before negotiations to sell the site to
Thoko’s trust began. Thoko herself has only provided me with broad
comments and remarks. ‘Everyone has freedom of trade. U can call it
whatever u want, that’s ur view,’ she said in a text message after I
asked her if her dealings amounted to corruption or nepotism.
Shell conducted an investigation into the matter after my article
appeared on News 24 in January 2018. ‘To date the investigation has
not demonstrated any awareness of the landlord’s political affiliation
from Shell’s side,’ one of the company’s executives told me. As for the
petrol station’s former employees and their families, they are all eagerly
waiting for the business to one day reopen its doors. Until such time,
they remain mostly unemployed, their prospects further curtailed by
Ace Magashule’s version of ‘radical economic transformation’.
nora
(Nora)
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