Following a complaint to the Press Council by the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (CBRTA) and its CEO Lwazi Mboyi about an article published by Sunday World on 14 December 2025 in its print edition, on its website, and on its social media account on the online platform known as X (formerly Twitter), under the headline “Roads agency board lifts CEO’s suspension despite serious allegations,” the article was found to be in breach of Clauses 1.1, 1.2 and 10.1 of the Press Code.
In the article, we reported that:
- “The newly appointed board of the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (CBRTA) has lifted the suspension of its CEO, Lwazi Mboyi, following direct intervention from Transport Minister Barbara Creecy …”
- “The decision comes despite a detailed whistle- blower memorandum alleging serious maladministration and qualification fraud against Mboyi…”
- “The memorandum, penned by senior agency officials, including former employee Botsang Moiloa, catalogues a series of allegations claiming Mboyi was irregularly appointed and has since presided over a purge of staff.”
- “Moiloa has expressed frustration that the CBRTA has failed to investigate these claims.”
First, Sunday World acknowledges that the article did not provide a fair account of the role played by the Minister of Transport, Ms Barbara Creecy, in the reinstatement of Mr Mboyi to the position of the C-BRTA’s CEO.
In doing so, we disregarded the C-BRTA’s express indication to our media enquiries, which was provided prior to the publication of the article.”
The article was not presented in a balanced manner and omitted material factual background contained both in the Department of Transport’s media statement and the C-BRTA’s response to the media questions. In doing so, our reporting breached the Press Code.
Second, we acknowledge that the republication of the allegation by Mr Botsang Moiloa — that the C- BRTA failed to investigate the claims raised in a detailed whistleblower memorandum — was
not factual. We accept that in light of the explanation provided by the C-BRTA, the republication of the accusation that the “CBRTA has failed to investigate” the allegations contained in the “memorandum” was in breach of the Press Code.
Last, Sunday World acknowledges that the headline of the article may have created the impression in the minds of readers that the board of the C-BRTA ignored serious allegations levelled against Mr Mboyi when it lifted his suspension. This was not the case.
Mr Mboyi’s suspension was lifted as a result of the board regularising the irregular decision taken by the C-BRTA’s former board to suspend him.
We sincerely regret the errors and apologise to Mr Mboyi and the C-BRTA for the harm caused by the article.
The newly appointed board of the Cross Border Road Transport Agency (CBRTA) has lifted the suspension of its CEO, Lwazi Mboyi, following direct intervention from Transport Minister Barbara Creecy.
This decision comes despite a detailed whistleblower memorandum alleging serious maladministration and qualification fraud against Mboyi, which was sent to the former board, Creecy, parliament, and labour unions.
The memorandum, penned by senior agency officials including former employee Botsang Moiloa, catalogues a series of allegations claiming Mboyi was irregularly appointed and has since presided over a purge of staff.
Mboyi was initially suspended in October for administrative issues, but the Department of Transport later declared that suspension irregular, citing a lack of ministerial concurrence.
The whistleblowers allege that when Mboyi was appointed in April 2022, the job specifications for the CEO post were downgraded from requiring a master’s degree to only an honours degree, a change they claim was made to suit him.
They further contend that Mboyi falsely claimed to hold a master’s degree in official documents and agency reports, later instructing communications and HR personnel to alter these records to state “incomplete”.
This, they say, led to the unfair termination of the officials involved.
The document states Mboyi allegedly misrepresented both his undergraduate and honours qualifications from the University of Durban-Westville.
It questions why the previous board amended the requirements and approved his appointment without due diligence, while also approving over R100 000 for him to pursue a master’s degree at Stellenbosch University after his appointment.
Moiloa has expressed frustration that the CBRTA has failed to investigate these claims.
In response, CBRTA spokesperson Amanda Hlahleni dismissed the allegations as baseless and linked to an aggrieved former employee.
“The issues that are being raised bear resemblance to false and unproven allegations that have been perpetuated by an aggrieved former employee [Moiloa] who was dismissed three years ago for misrepresentation of his own qualifications,” Hlahleni stated.
She emphasised that despite repeated requests, no evidence has been provided to substantiate the claims against Mboyi and that the former employee lost his subsequent legal challenge at the Labour Court.
Regarding the suspension, Hlahleni confirmed the matter has been resolved by the
department.
The board’s decision to reinstate Mboyi, on the minister’s instruction, closes a chapter of internal turmoil but leaves unresolved the serious allegations levied by senior officials, raising questions about corporate governance and accountability at the state agency.
- Sunday World published an article on 14 December 2025 alleging the CBRTA CEO, Lwazi Mboyi, was reinstated despite serious misconduct allegations, which breached the Press Code due to inaccurate and unbalanced reporting.
- The article failed to fairly represent Transport Minister Barbara Creecy’s role in lifting Mboyi’s suspension and neglected key factual background from the Department of Transport and CBRTA responses.
- Sunday World incorrectly reported that CBRTA failed to investigate whistleblower claims, which was factually unfounded according to CBRTA’s explanations.
- The headline gave a misleading impression that the CBRTA board ignored serious allegations when lifting Mboyi’s suspension; in fact, the board regularized a prior irregular suspension decision.
- Serious allegations against Mboyi include accusations of maladministration, qualification fraud, and irregular appointment processes, but CBRTA denied these claims, citing lack of evidence and linking them to a disgruntled former employee’s unsubstantiated claims.
