untouchables. Ace was one of the people we were looking at.’
The Magashule probes were codenamed ‘Project Moetapele’, which
translates to ‘Project Leader’ in English, the source told me. Some of
the issues the Scorpions were probing included Magashule’s abuse of
state resources at the Glen College of Agriculture. ‘Ace was handing
out cows, sheep and other livestock to people without following the
proper procedures,’ confirmed the former Scorpions insider, who also
told me that the unit had obtained a search-and-seizure warrant and
raided Glen College.
The Scorpions had also been investigating Magashule’s possible
involvement in the sale of municipal land on the Vaal River near Parys.
Marshoff told me that while she was premier, then NPA boss Vusi
Pikoli visited her in the Free State. ‘Vusi told me that Ace was going to
be arrested, and that we needed to be prepared for the political
ramifications that this would have in the Free State,’ she said.
Of course, the Scorpions were shut down before they could act. ‘All of
the data and files we had on Ace were handed over to the SAPS [South
African Police Service] when we were disbanded,’ said the former
Scorpions insider.
The Project Moetapele files may well be stashed away in a dusty,
unused office somewhere in a SAPS building in Bloemfontein. Or
perhaps they were taken to the police’s national headquarters in
Pretoria. That is, of course, if they were not destroyed.
Magashule received another break in late 2008 with the formation of
the Congress of the People. The new opposition party absorbed several
key individuals who were formerly members of or aligned to the Free
State ANC’s southern (anti-Magashule) faction, including Mosiuoa
Lekota and Kganare. Even former Magashule allies who had
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