Gauteng Gambling Board CEO Karabo Mbele under fire over ‘fraud, graft’

Gauteng Gambling Board (GGB) chief executive Karabo Mbele is facing criminal charges following allegations of irregular funding decisions, unlawful procurement practices and improper relationships with service providers.

Build One South Africa (BOSA) member of the Gauteng Legislature, Ayanda Allie, opened the criminal charges linked to fraud, corruption and abuse of office at the Bramley police station on Friday.

MEC ‘must act’

Roger Solomons, BOSA spokesperson, said the party has also called on Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, to suspend and remove Mbele pending the outcome of the investigations.

“These allegations, if proven true, constitute serious fraudulent and corrupt conduct, as well as significant breaches of ethical and statutory responsibilities.

“The conduct outlined above may amount to violations of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA), the Companies Act, and the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA),” said Solomons.

The move to approach the authorities comes after a wave of allegations linked to governance failures at the GCB, an entity of the Gauteng Department of Economic Development.

Award letters issued prematurely

Mbele is accused of facilitating the issuing of award letters for Social Development Fund (SDF) and Corporate Social Investment (CSI) allocations worth about R73-million for the 2023/24 cycle while evaluations were still ongoing.

Allie said the letters were distributed before due diligence, evaluation and adjudication processes were completed, without board approval and in breach of governance standards.

“Ms Mbele was allegedly involved in the appointment of CCB Recruitment Agency, an entity registered at her personal residence at 43 Link Road, Athol, Johannesburg, and for which she served as a director from 29 July 2022 to 09 February 2023. This constitutes a direct conflict of interest and an alleged breach of the duty to disclose personal and financial interests.

“In November 2024, payments totalling R747 000 were allegedly made to this entity for recruitment services without adherence to procurement requirements. Additionally, several candidates sourced through CCB Recruitment reportedly lacked the necessary qualifications or suitability for the positions,” said Solomons.

KSM tender ‘irregular’

Mbele is also accused of appointing KSM Human Capital Solutions, another company where she had previously been a director, without disclosing a conflict of interest. The company allegedly received R779 400 for recruitment services under a process said to have bypassed procurement rules and proper vetting.

A further allegation relates to the disbursement of R23-million in Social and Economic Development (SED) funding last April. This was allegedly done despite instructions from the board to restart the SED process and without resolving earlier concerns or obtaining proper approval.

“The alleged violations occurred during Ms Mbele’s tenure as CEO, however, these were reportedly not her first offences. At the time of her appointment, Ms Mbele had allegedly already been involved in improperly awarding R2 million in SED funding to Dono Blox, a company registered at her and/or her mother’s residential address at 299 Daubeney Road, Mondeor, Johannesburg.

“This allegedly represented another undisclosed conflict of interest. The allocation reportedly occurred without due diligence, SED assessment, project review, beneficiary vetting, or declaration of conflict of interest,” said Solomons.

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