that his political fate was sealed after those two awkward meetings
with Atul Gupta. His account of this saga is one of the most compelling
indications that Magashule participated in and actively abetted the
shadowy parallel state that the Gupta family ran from their fortified
seat in Saxonwold.
It seems Manyoni was not the only Free State official who was
dragged to the Gupta compound by Magashule. In October 2018 , news
broke that Magashule and Mxolisi Dukwana, the former MEC for
economic development, had allegedly visited Saxonwold in 2011.^8 In a
so-called Anton Piller application submitted to the Bloemfontein High
Court, Dukwana claimed that the Guptas had tried to strong-arm him
into approving a R 140 -million property development project backed by
the Free State government. He also claimed that the Guptas had offered
to pay him R 2 million a month for ten years if he signed off on the
deal, and that all of this occurred in Magashule’s presence.^9 Magashule
said Dukwana’s claims were ‘not only baseless and malicious, but
[were] also based on fabrications’.^10 Dukwana was due to testify about
his alleged trip to Saxonwold at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into
allegations of state capture. At the time of writing, he had not yet
appeared at the inquiry.
Documents in the #GuptaLeaks show that Magashule became
increasingly prominent within the Guptas’ social circles after he
became premier. In November 2010 , the family sent an invitation to
‘Ace Magashule and partner’ to attend their annual Diwali celebrations
at the Saxonwold residence. It is not clear whether Magashule attended
that year’s event, but sources confirm that they saw him at at least one
such Gupta Diwali celebration.