Former top Denel officials granted bail in corruption case

Two former Denel senior officials have been granted R30 000 bail after appearing before the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court on counts of corruption, following their recent arrest by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC).

Lungisani Daniel Mantsha and Zwelakhe Nhlanganiso Ntshepe were ordered to surrender their passports and to refrain from applying for new ones.

They were further ordered to make an application with the court to amend the bail conditions should a need arise for them to travel outside the country.

Allegations relating to the joint venture

Mantsha and Ntshepe are accused of being involved in the irregular approval and establishment of the Denel Asia Joint Venture between VR Laser South Africa (VRLSA) and the private Hong Kong company Denel Asia.

Denel – a South African state-owned aerospace and military technology conglomerate – is said to be a 51% shareholder in Denel Asia, while VRLSA holds 49%.

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IDAC spokesperson Henry Mamothame said the accused allegedly signed the venture without following due process and further misrepresented facts to ministers that the deal was not yet signed while it was.

“They purported VRLSA to be the only suitable business entity that met all the legislative requirements to enter into a shareholders agreement with Denel, a South African government entity,” Mamothame said in a statement.

At the time of the alleged offence between March 2014 and March 2018, Mantsha was a non-executive director and a chairman of Denel’s board of directors, while Ntshepe was the acting group chief executive officer.

Ntshepe later occupied the position permanently.

Disregarded directives

Mamothame said the duo allegedly disregarded a directive by the finance minister stipulating that all transactions relating to Denel should be subjected to the minister’s approval as well as the approval from the Ministry of Public Enterprises.

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“This was following the finance minister issuing a guarantee to Denel in the amount of R1.8 billion.”

They are also accused of receiving gratification for their alleged involvement in facilitating the deal.

“It was further discovered that confidential information relating to the affairs of the Board of Directors was disclosed between July 2014 and May 2016,” Mamothame said.

“There were also further discoveries of disregard to the Public Finance Management Act stipulations by allegedly awarding bursaries without the required authority to do so.”

Their matter has been postponed to 16 May for analysis of evidence.

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