“It can’t be pre-trial forever. When you charge a person, it means you are ready. We have been saying justice delayed is justice denied. The NPA has been saying they are ready,” he said in an interview conducted in the 15 minutes that his counsel, Laurence Hodes, delayed the start of proceedings by being late.
Businessman Edwin Sodi inside court G at the Bloemfontein High Court on 19 October, 2021. The charges relate to charges related to the R255-million Free State asbestos audit contract awarded to Sodi. The DA’s Leona Kleynhans, a member of the Free State legislature, herself expressed some disappointment at the delays, saying she was hoping that a date for the actual case would be set.
She said more than half of the R255-million that was spent on the tender, could have been saved if the DA had managed to stop payments back then. Tshabalala stood on a street corner outside the court alongside a group of singing Magashule supporters who turned up before the court halfway through proceedings.