By Teboho Moloi
BLOEMFONTEIN – Opposition parties in the Free State have delivered a scathing assessment of South Africa’s governance, warning that the country is sliding into collapse following the latest setback in the asbestos corruption trial.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), ActionSA, and the Democratic Alliance (DA) say they have lost faith in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) after the Free State High Court ruled that the extradition and deportation of key witness Nomalanga Moroadi Cholota from the United States was unlawful.
The ruling, which exposed glaring procedural blunders by the NPA, has reignited debate about the state’s ability to prosecute high-profile corruption cases.
ActionSA provincial chairperson Patricia Kopane accused both the NPA and the police of consistently failing to deliver justice in corruption cases involving billions of rand.
“We always hear judgments saying evidence is insufficient. During our oversight visits, we found police officers working without resources, capacity, or even functional vehicles. That directly contributes to these failures,” she said.
Kopane argued that the justice system has become biased against the poor.
“Ordinary South Africans without money are filling up prisons, while politically connected looters walk free. Billions have been wasted, the Zondo Commission’s recommendations are gathering dust, and the state is collapsing. Every sphere of government is dilapidated,” she charged.
DA provincial leader Roy Jankielson said the unlawful extradition ruling dealt a heavy blow to the asbestos trial but stressed that accountability must not be derailed.
“We are deeply disappointed, but we expect the NPA to appeal. The R255 million stolen through the asbestos project was meant to benefit the people of the Free State. Those responsible must still face justice,” he said.
EFF provincial chairperson Couch Liphoko described the trial as a reflection of a broken state.
“The asbestos case is proof that South Africa’s justice system is collapsing. The NPA could not even convince the court that Cholota’s extradition was lawful. They also bungled the Vrede Dairy case, which implicated former minister Mosebenzi Zwane and Gupta associates. This is not an isolated incident – it’s a pattern of incompetence,” Liphoko said.
He warned that the NPA’s repeated failures are eroding public trust.
“We’re left with nothing – the NPA, the SAPS, the judiciary. Everything is collapsing,” he declared.
The asbestos scandal, valued at R255 million, remains one of the Free State’s most infamous corruption cases. It was meant to fund the removal of hazardous asbestos roofs from homes, but instead became another symbol of state capture-era looting.
With the High Court ruling throwing the trial into further uncertainty, opposition parties say South Africans are running out of reasons to believe justice will ever be served.
