An Ace in the hole, with Karyn Maughan

Today on The Lead, we cross to Bloemfontein where specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan was in the Free State High Court, where former premier Ace Magashule pleaded not guilty to allegations of fraud, corruption and money laundering charges in the asbestos tender scam trial. The former ANC Secretary-General and 17 others, including businessman Edwin Sodi are in the dock in connection with the R255-million scheme to audit and remove asbestos from Free State homes. State prosecutors have dubbed the case as a “thieves’ picnic”. Maughan discusses what happened in court today, including how Magashule asked whether the state was confident about their charges against him. Later we look at how National Institute for Communicable Diseases has declared South Africa’s flu season open as well as who the lucky winner of the R110 million PowerBall jackpot is. Mail your comments and voice notes to thelead@24.com. Editions drop Monday through Thursday at 19:00 on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.