Fear lessl y the tr uth 10 February 2012
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O-G se probleem met GTM is geen rooi lig Bongani Nkosi, ‘n 15-jarige leerling van Meridian College in Nkowankowa, het Woensdag inspanningloos R5 000 in sy sak gesteek, toe hy as die wenner aangewys is van Piet Dry Oogkundiges in Tzaneen se kompetisie om geld vir die SA Vrouefederasie in te samel. Vir slegs ‘n
blikkie kos (vir die SAVF) kon mense inskryf en moes dan die naam gee van die oogkundige by Piet Dry se nuwe praktyk in die nuwe Tzaneen Lifestyle Centre. Hier staan Bongani by mnr Piet Dry en me Estelle Strauss (die oogkundige). Bongani sê hy gaan die geld belê.
Die gekwalifiseerde verslag van die Ouditeur-generaal vir die GTM se sake vir 2010/2011 is nie ‘n treinongeluk nie en beslis geen rede om gevaarligte te sien flikker nie. Vir elkeen van die agt sake is daar goeie redes en deursigtige verklarings. ‘n Betaling van ‘n substantiewe bedrag aan Eskom en die MDM se laksheid om verpligtings betyds na te kom, is van die “probleme” wat die O-G “aanspreek”. Geen ware onreëlmatighede is ter sprake nie en in sommige gevalle het dit om tydsberekenings gegaan. Ons sal volgende week in detail verslag doen oor die verslag en die sake wat aanleiding gegee het tot die O-G se verwysings.
Premier’s road to wealth Francois Aucamp
francois@bulletin.us.com
Premier Cassel Mathale has by all indications built a multimillion rand business empire, extending beyond the borders of Limpopo. Mathale has a close business relationship with Mr Thaba Mufamadi, chairman of the Parliamentary finance committee and former MEC for economic development in Limpopo. They are closely linked by Manaka Property Investments. Manaka rents out a number of buildings in Pretoria to central government departments at alleged highly inflated rates. At the moment, law enforcement agencies — including the Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit — are engaged in intensive investigations into alleged corruption, tender rigging, and a rampant culture of kickbacks and impunity in Limpopo, that seems to have precipitated the provinces financial woes. Manaka Property Investments’ portfolio of leased buildings includes a welter of government buildings in the administrative capital Pretoria. They include buildings occupied by the departments of public works, water affairs and home affairs, as well as Statistics SA and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Manaka also lists the Gauteng social development department as a tenant. The Pretoria buildings, listed on Manaka’s website, include: Manaka Continental Building (water affairs), Manaka House (public works, alongside Absa and several law firms), Hallmark Building (home affairs), and Manaka Heights. A Cape Town newspaper recently claimed that insiders say politically connected outfits like Manaka use a formula in
costing property deals with government agencies, whereby market rates are upped by a third to maximise profits at taxpayers’ expense. While Manaka declined to provide details of their charges, estate agents are said to confirm that Manaka charged prices well above current market prices, compared to similar properties. Both Mathale and Mufamadi have declared their interests in their respective legislature’s disclosure regimen. However, it has yet to be answered how a company connected to key public officials in the province came to be awarded the contracts — in defiance of Treasury’s Supply Chain Management regulations — in the first place. Mathale has in the meantime said that although he was still a shareholder, he was no longer active in the company and had not received any payment from it. “Even if I was still active, there would be no conflict of interest because I declared my interest,” he said. Mufamadi referred questions to Manaka’s chief executive, Joe Mathebula, the same Cape Town based newspaper reported. They said Mathebula confirmed that Mathale is a shareholder in the company, but claims he resigned as a director after he was appointed premier of Limpopo in March 2009. “However, there were delays in processing his resignation because of Cipro requirements,” Mathebula said last week. He said Manaka was unapologetic about doing business with the state because the government is a “big player” in the property sector, and is keen for transformation. Another key business partner in the Manaka web of influence is businessman and property billionaire Jannie Moolman, former chairman of the Limpopo Tender Board, who was appointed by Mufamadi when he was MEC.
While chairman of the tender board, insiders say, the board awarded some “handsome” tenders to companies belonging to another key Limpopo power player, multi-millionaire businessman Jimmy Kourtombellides. Kourtombellides and Moolman are joint directors of another company, Leopont 213 Properties (Pty) Ltd. One of the tenders awarded to Phamog Properties CC — 50% percent owned by Kourtombellides — was for the construction of the agriculture department building in Polokwane. Phamog gave the building contract to one of Moolman’s companies, Jan Moolman Bouers, just after he resigned from the tender board. However, the construction site displayed signs indicating the work was being done by a front company called Vision Construction, operated by Moolman. Shortly before Moolman resigned as chairman, he sold a luxury Pretoria home for R1,4m to Mufamadi, the politician who appointed him, at what is understood to have been a significant discount. Moolman’s trust paid R1,3m for the house in 2000, and sold it in 2004 for R1,4m. At the time the average value of a house in SA had gone up by more than 250 percent, making the estimated value more than R3m. Moolman has denied all the allegations, saying he did not have a sinister relationship with Mufamadi and Mathale. However, a former employee of Moolman, a Mr Nortje, had lodged numerous complaints to the now disbanded Directorate of Special Investigations about an alleged corrupt relationship between Mufamadi and Moolman. Instead, Nortje said, Moolman tried to sue him for defamation. Moolman withdrew the case when required to disclose key documentation around his relationship with Mufamadi and Mathale.