FF Plus asks PP to investigate Deputy President’s sons

7 February 2024

The FF Plus has asked the Public Protector (PP) to investigate the Gauteng government's contracts with the sons of the Deputy President, Paul Mashatile.

Lately, the Deputy President has frequently been making the headlines for his exorbitant lifestyle and the suspect government contracts awarded to his family members.

According to reports by Network24, Mashatile's two sons, Thabiso Mashatile and Tinyiko Mvelase, were awarded three contracts by the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development in a matter of just three months. Both were directors of the Ngwato and Manzi Group when the contracts were awarded.

In terms of the law, it is not necessarily problematic when a public or elected official's family and friends deliver goods or services to government, but then they should have been appointed on merit to deliver the relevant goods or services at a reasonable price, which should be better than anything offered by the other companies that tendered for the contracts in question.

Section 217 of the Constitution requires government to procure goods and services based on fairness, equitability, transparency, and on a competitive and cost-effective basis.

The FF Plus finds it strange that the Deputy President's two sons became directors of the company Ngwato and Manzi Group just when the tenders were awarded.

Network24's investigation revealed that Thabiso Mashatile had been serving as a director of the company when two tenders were awarded in March 2022. He, however, stepped down as director a mere two months later on 10 May 2022.

On the same day, Tinyiko Mvelase was appointed as director. According to Network24's investigation, he was appointed a mere month before the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development awarded yet another contract to Ngwato and Manzi Group in June 2022.

And then on 10 November 2023, Mvelase resigned as director.

At first glance it seems that the Deputy President's two sons were appointed as directors of the Ngwato and Manzi Group at specific times so as to lend more political weight to the company's tender applications to the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development.

There are other strange facts which also stand out and might indicate that the contracts were awarded to a company that is not really capable of performing the work.

At present, the Ngwato and Manzi Group's sole director is a 24-year-old woman named Thato Nokaneng, who is unemployed according to her TikTok profile.

The three contracts awarded to the company entail highly skilled technical work, including the procurement and supply of autoclave equipment (which sterilises items using steam under high pressure), building materials, and fire-monitoring and -fighting services.

This inevitably raises the question of whether Nokaneng possesses the expertise needed to provide these goods and services.

Moreover, the registered office for the company is a residential property in Alexandra, a suburb of Johannesburg.

These questions can only be answered by conducting an investigation to determine whether the company meets the prescribed requirements in terms of section 217 of the Constitution, as well as the other relevant procurement requirements set out in the Treasury's Procurement Regulations in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, the Regulations issued in terms of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act 5 van 2000, and the provincial government's own procurement policy.

If there were any deviations from the procurement processes, it could indicate that the Deputy President's two sons were simply appointed to sway the allocation of the contracts in the company's favour.

The FF Plus, furthermore, also requested the PP to investigate and determine how Thabiso Mashatile and Tinyiko Mvelase could possibly have benefited personally from the allocation of the government contracts.

The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development is notorious for being the provincial government's poorest performing department, particularly, for the slow rate at which it is constructing school infrastructure and for delaying important infrastructure projects in Gauteng.

Therefore, this Department cannot afford to appoint service providers that are unable to successfully complete projects on time, within the budget and up to standard.

The FF Plus hopes that the PP investigation will provide more clarity on the regularity of the Ngwato and Manzi Group appointment, as well as the nature of the Deputy President's two sons' involvement with the company, and the successful allocation of three provincial government contracts.

Issued by Anton Alberts, FF Plus national chairperson and MPL: Gauteng, 7 February 2024