Business as usual for Carol Bouwer amid Hawks investigation 

It seems to be business as usual for businesswoman and producer Carol Bouwer who was recently named at the centre of an ongoing Hawks investigation into a tender that is alleged to have been improperly awarded. 

Last Sunday, City Press published an article claiming that an investigation by the Hawks regarding the awarding of an almost R40 million tender to Bouwer’s production company was at “an advanced stage.”

Why are the Hawks investigating Carol Bouwer?

According to City Press, the Hawks were alerted to the case on two separate occasions after the fact that her company Carol Bouwer Productions  – in its capacity as the main contractor – was awarded a tender to help organise the Nelson Mandela memorial service in Mpumalanga.

Documents relating to the case also show that her company was paid R39.8 million for the work within seven days. 

Two cases related to these events were opened in 2016 and 2017 and were brought to the fore after allegations made during the inquiry into state capture.

Then director-general in the office of the KwaZulu-Natal premier Nonhlanhla Mkhize has also been named as a person of interest in the case and it was alleged that Mkhize appointed Bouwer’s company without following proper procedures.

In fact, in 2019, the public protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane found that Mkhize had acted unethically by doing so.

Business as usual 

On Monday evening, Bouwer shared pictures and videos from an event she co-hosted in her capacity as a patron for the arts at Cape Town’s Zeits Mocca. 

The event, referred to as the Gucci Gala on social media and themed “art and opulence,” was hosted to present the  “When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting” exhibition. 

According to the Ziets Mocca social media account, the exhibition includes nearly 200 artworks from around the world that reimagine, position, memorialise and assert African and African-descent experiences. 

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“Supporting the arts is an act of self-healing… now more than ever, art from our continent has been celebrated and acknowledged as neither second nor alternative to others… It is boldly a representation of who we are as a people and cannot be celebrated in isolation to the splendour of this continent,” she wrote on Instagram.

“I love art and I love artists… hearing about their process, their motivations and all that informs what the collector finally takes home. In joining my sisters @madamekoyo and @gugumbatharaw as co-chair of the @zeitzmocaa @gucci gala I am declaring boldly that Cape Town is a home for all art lovers and this weekend it is our honour to welcome you all,” she wrote on Instagram. 

All this amid scores of social media users expressing their disappointment at the fact that her name would come up in relation to the events outlined in the City Press article. 

“Of all the women, #CarolBouwer, whom many women look up to as a role model in business, is alleged to be involved in tender corruption. She’s such a disappointment! #NelsonMandelamemorial” tweeted @LaMkhatjwa.

Where did the money go?

• City Press outlines the following costs as per documentation related to the case:
• R2.9 million for “infrastructure”;
• R102 650 for additional cabling and lighting;
• R1.4 million for audio;
• R501 000 for videography;
• R65 550 for technical support;
• R176 500 for security;
• R2.3 million management fee;
• R782 000 contingency fee;
• R3.6 million for T-shirts (100 000 T-shirts at R36 each); and
• R 2.1 million for 500 000 for bottles of water (at R4.20 per bottle).

City Press added that Carol Bouwer Productions was potentially improperly hired to plan another government event in 2017. 

*Compiled by Kaunda Selisho