Mpumalanga businessman’s attempt to bribe SIU investigator backfires

An attempt to bribe a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigator with R50 000 has backfired for an Mpumalanga businessman – landing him a four-year jail term – after being sentenced on Thursday by the Mbombela Special Commercial Crimes Court.

While many South Africans have begun celebrating the Easter long weekend, for Mpendulo Sipho Mapalala, it meant handcuffs and exchanging suits for the prison garb at the Mbombela Correctional Services Centre.

Attempted bribe of SIU investigator

Mapalala’s woes began when he made a failed attempt to bribe an SIU investigator – a desperate bid to get him to make a personal protective equipment (PPE) corruption investigation against a Mpumalanga Department of Public Works service provider, Gugu Bulunga, disappear.

The SIU and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) have welcomed the judgment, saying it sent a strong message “that our law enforcement agencies have a zero tolerance approach towards corruption”.

The NPA secured a guilty plea from Mapalala in January 2023 on charges of corruption and bribery for attempting to bribe the SIU investigator – an attempt to illegally suppress a Covid procurement investigation against Bulunga.

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Mapalala was arrested in August 2021, during a joint operation with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), when he was delivering a bribe of R50 000 to the SIU investigator.

The attempted bribe followed an SIU investigation into the affairs of the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport, under Proclamation R23 of 2020, which uncovered a string of procurement irregularities.

The SIU investigations revealed that the department contracted a service provider in the 2017/18 financial year for pest control services.

However, when a national state of disaster was declared, the department varied the contract to include disinfection services in the Ehlanzeni District.

The disinfection services were to cover buildings owned and managed by the Mpumalanga provincial government in the district.

Trail of payments

The contractor received multiple payments, amounting to R4.8 million, after providing the disinfection service.

The first payment of R1.3 million was made in July 2020, followed by several payments amounting to R3.5 million.

Immediately after the first payment was made, the service provider started transferring large amounts of money to various entities and individuals, according to the SIU investigation.

One of the recipients of the money, made various payments, traced to a Mpumalanga-based law firm and two employees of the department.

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The law firm bought a property to the value of R2.2 million and registered it in the name of a daughter of one of the two departmental officials.

In 2021 the SIU interviewed Bulunga – a director of Mbombela Integrated and Thandolwani Transport and Properties – about payments made to government officials and about properties purchased, charges he denied.

Hours after the interview, Mapalala called an SIU investigator – expressing preparedness “to do anything to make the matter against Bulunga to go away”.

Guilty plea

In his guilty plea statement, Mapalala admitted that his actions were against the law.

“I knew it was wrong to provide money or payment to the investigator, as she was an official of the SIU.

“I gave this money to the SIU investigator to also compensate the other people the investigator referred to in a bid to crush the involvement of Gugu Bulunga.

“I wanted to help Gugu to get out of the mess, which caused her severe anxiety and the threat to her life.

“I therefore, admit that I attempted to corrupt an SIU investigator and that my actions were unlawful and punishable,” wrote Mapalala in his guilty plea.

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