Ramaphosa’s clean-up drive gathers momentum in Ekurhuleni

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s clean-up campaign pledge, made at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture to eliminate the embedded graft within the ranks of government, appears to be gathering momentum, with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) being in full sights of the City of Ekurhuleni’s procurement procedures.

With Ramaphosa having signed Proclamation R15 of 2021 authoring the SIU to investigate corruption and maladministration in the affairs of Ekurhuleni and the Gauteng department of agriculture, to recover losses incurred by the state, ANC national spokesman Pule Mabe could become the first casualty.

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Enviro Mobi, a company with links to Mabe, which won R27 million in a tender to supply 58 waste picking motorbikes to Ekurhuleni, is subject of the SIU probe.

Ekurhuleni executive mayor Mzwandile Masina has welcomed the investigation.

The SIU investigation is:

• Covering the 2017 procurement of, or contracting for, the supply of 200 portable three-wheel motorised waste collection vehicles.
• Determining whether the tender or payments made were in line with legislation or National Treasury guidelines.

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Ekurhuleni spokesman Phakamile Mbengashe said: “Our legal team is working with the SIU in the investigation.”

Ekurhuleni sub-contracted waste recycler Kenneth Tshabalala, claimed some of the scooters were abandoned at the Chloorkop waste dump, outside Kempton Park, “without having been given to the recyclers”.

Meanwhile, Tshabalala has instructed Mbuyisa Moleele Incorporation to probe the terms of agreement entered into between himself and the Ekurhuleni-appointed main contractor Nokeng Gundo Waste Management JV.

Last year The Citizen reported how the City of Ekurhuleni’s empowerment scheme, budgeted at R276 million annually to empower township community-based contractors (CBCs), only brought misery and destitution to struggling entrepreneurs.

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Whistleblowers Molly Shekeshe, Esau “Jack” Mzunga and Tshabalala claimed their five-year contracts as CBCs were abruptly discontinued by Ekurhuleni-appointed development contractors Bvumi and Nokeng-Gundo.

brians@citizen.co.za