Suspended Secretary General Ace Magashule and 16 other accused appeared at the Mangaung High Court on Friday facing corruption charges.
Their case is in connection to a R255 million asbestos tender that Magashule signed for when he was a premier.
The court heard that the prosecution hopes to have Moroadi  Cholota, Magashule's former personal assistant who had previously been listed as a state witness in the case, extradited from the United States by the time the court sits again.

POLITICALLY MOTIVATED

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The case includes tenderpreneur Edwin Sodi and former human settlements head Thabane Zulu.
According to reports Magashule and his co-accused were arrested by the Hawks over the tender to remove asbestos roofing from low-cost housing in the Free State, awarded during his tenure as premier, to Sodi's Blackhead Consulting.State prosecutor John  De Nysschen said :"We do not intend to arrest anybody else before this trial starts. We have all the accused here except for Cholota, we are waiting for the Americans to extradite her."

BLOCKING TACTIC

The state has  dismissed claims by Magashule made through his counsel Laurence Hodes that the case was politically motivated and that delays in getting the matter underway were aimed at keeping him out of the ANC's succession race and the ruling party's "top six" officials. "You cannot blame the state for the delay. We are opposing the applications but that is not what is delaying the process," he said.
"We do not do politics. There is no political interference. Nobody has phoned me and told me to do this or do that. We determine charges on facts, "said De Nysschen.
Magashule's Defence claimed that his client would be happy to proceed with the trial separate from the other accused, as this will allow him, " respect for his political career. "Hodes said the postponement was a delaying tactic to block him from competing for  a position in the ANC at the national conference in December.
The pre-trial will resume on the 29 of January 2023 and will allow Magashule, Sodi and Zulu to approach the Supreme Court of appeal for leave to appeal the high court ruling which dismissed their earlier request.