Former ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe, his wife Mmathleko and five other accused were granted bail by the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court today. Mabe and his co-accused Loyiso Mkwana, Thandeka Mbassa, Abdulla Ismail, Matilda Gasela and Tinyiko Mahuntsi, who all worked for the Gauteng Department of Agriculture at the time of the alleged corruption, handed themselves over to the Hawks this morning and were charged with theft, fraud and corruption.
TENDER FRAUD
Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo said a company linked to Mabe, Enviro-Mobi, was unlawfully awarded a R27 million tender in 2017 by the Gauteng Department of Agriculture. The tender was for the supply of 200 tuk-tuks for waste pickers in Ekurhuleni. The contract agreement between the department and Enviro-Mobi stipulated that the department could consider payment only after completing 50% of the work, with no upfront payments allowed to the service provider. During the investigation, it was established that Mkwana, who was the chief director, and Ismail, who was the CFO at the time, processed and paid more than R25m to Enviro-Mobi for 200 motorised three-wheelers, though all goods were still with the service provider,' said Mbambo.
According to Mbambo, the investigation uncovered that Enviro-Mobi later issued a letter of demand to the department demanding a further payment of more than R9m for safekeeping, storage and ancillary services relating to the fleet. After the payments were made to Enviro-Mobi, the money was transferred to Mabe, his wife and their family members.
CONSIDERING STEPPING ASIDE
During his bail application, Mabe stated in his affidavit that he was earning R25 000 with no other income. He said he could only afford to pay a bail of R20 000, of which he said the funds were readily available. Speaking outside court hand in hand with his wife, Mabe said he called Mbalula on Sunday to tell him of the charges that were preferred against him and that he would be stepping aside. "When I heard of my looming arrest, I began constructing a letter to the Secretary-General of the ANC comrade Fikile Mbalula to advise the ANC that I will follow the resolution of the 54th national conference committed to the renewal of ANC, that we will step aside from our active positions as members of the NEC when facing criminal charges," he said. He said he is not stepping aside because he is guilty. "A renewed ANC requires us to put ourselves differently to know that once charged or alleged of serious crimes alleged we must not make the life of the ANC difficult," he added. Meanwhile, former Parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula appeared in the Pretoria High Court in connection to a corruption and money laundering case involving R4.5 million. Her matter was postponed to 5 December.
