Pule Mabe, the former national spokesperson for the ANC, turned himself in to police on Wednesday morning.
Seven suspects, including Mabe, turned themselves in to the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation unit in Gauteng, according to Brigadier Thandi Mbambo, the national spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation Hawks.
The suspects will be charged with fraud, theft, violation of the Public Finance Management Act, and violation of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act when they appear at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday.
The charges have their roots in alleged corruption involving an R27-million tender that Mabe’s company was purportedly illegally awarded in 2017.
Sunday World exclusively reported at the weekend that Mabe was expected to appear in court on charges of corruption
“Seven suspects, including high-ranking officials, company directors, and a former member of parliament, handed themselves over to the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation unit in Gauteng this morning and they are expected to appear at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes court after they’ve been processed,” said Mbambo.
She said the suspects were arrested in response to a forensic report by the Special Investigating Unit, which found that the Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development had released a tender in October 2016 seeking bids to formalise and integrate waste and waste operatives into the mainstream waste management economy.
Affiliation to the politician
In March 2017, Enviro-Mobi won a tender worth about R27-million, according to Mbambo.
“The contract agreement between the department and Enviro-Mobi stipulated that the department may consider paying on condition that 50% of the work has been completed and no upfront payments may be made to the service provider.
“During the investigation, it was established that the chief director and chief financial officer processed and paid over R25-million to Enviro-Mobi for 200 motorised three-wheelers, though all goods were still in the possession of the service provider.
“It was also discovered that the service provider later issued a letter of demand to the department demanding a further payment of over R9-million for safekeeping, storage and ancillary services relating to the fleet.
“Also that the company failed to disclose in its bid proposal its affiliation to the politician who was a member of parliament and misrepresented to the department that it had supplied the fleet as well as fleet-related services.”
The Hawks launched an investigation after a case was filed at the Johannesburg Central police station in October 2020, according to Mbambo.
