secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told the Sowetan. ‘There is nothing
new about this. We believe they are targeting many more ANC leaders
than just Magashule.’^8
Magashule, who had accusations of corruption hanging over his head
long before Zuma, was one of the foremost proponents of disbanding
the Scorpions. At the Free State leg of Parliament’s series of public
hearings on the Scorpions’ future, Magashule apparently ‘hijacked’
proceedings and accused the crime-fighting unit of being prejudiced
against black people.^9
Not long thereafter, Magashule and Zuma got what they desired. In
January 2009 , the Scorpions were officially disbanded.^10 For a large
part of the following decade, shady politicians, government officials
and businesspeople had almost free rein to loot state resources.
It would appear that Magashule had good cause to join Zuma’s anti-
Scorpions chorus. It can now be revealed that before the unit was
disbanded, it was indeed close to arresting Magashule. And contrary to
the narrative that the Scorpions were politically motivated, the unit had
gathered several solid dockets on Magashule that centred on his
transgressions in the Free State.
Sibiya, whom I met in August 2018 , confirmed that the Scorpions
were investigating Magashule and that they had made good progress in
this regard before the unit was dismantled. ‘Ace knows about this, he
was questioned by the Scorpions on several occasions,’ said Sibiya,
who now leads the City of Johannesburg’s anti-corruption unit.
Other sources familiar with the Scorpions’ work provided further
details. ‘The Scorpions focused on top-level corruption, fraud and other
transgressions involving prominent people,’ said one former Scorpions
insider. ‘You might refer to these people as high-flyers or even
nora
(Nora)
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