‘Stop smearing MK party as a party of thugs’ – Spokesperson denies special treatment from Tom Moyane

uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela has denied allegations of corruption and nepotism related to a tender that his company, Lekgotla Outsourcing, received from the South African Revenue Services (Sars).

Reports about the tender first surfaced in 2016 when the Mail & Guardian reported that Ndhlela was related to the then-Sars commissioner, Tom Moyane.

Ndhlela’s company was tasked with collecting around R2.2 billion in debt from taxpayers.

However, earlier this week, Ndhlela cautioned some social media users to stop accusing him of corruption.

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‘Tom Moyane is far from this’

He clarified in the post that his company had received the tender alongside other companies.

“Stop smearing MK party as a party of thugs, asseblief [please],” he said.

Speaking to The Citizen on Monday, Ndhlela said he disclosed all relevant information to Sars when competing for the debt collection tender.

He said Monyane, his uncle, was his reference on his resume and that he was not favoured over other candidates because of his links to the former commissioner.

“I clearly declared in my CV that I even had his cell phone number as a reference. I never lied.

“Tom Moyane is far from this; he does not get involved in these things as an accounting authority,” he said.

Ndhlela said his company collected more than the expected target in three months after it was appointed.

“My company did a great service for this country. We did what Sars could not do themselves. We collected over R300 million in three months,” he said.

Despite this, Ndhlela said he had stopped doing business with Sars.

“I ended the contract myself,” he said.

Economic transformation

Ndhlela told The Citizen that he was disappointed that a white company that had received the same tender had not been scrutinised like his.

“A company was appointed without a tax clearance certificate,” he said, without elaborating further.

Ndhlela said he was now involved in full-time politics to help transform the economic structure of South Africa.

He said South Africa had achieved political freedom for black people but not economic freedom.

“There is an invisible glass ceiling that we must get rid of. Until we do that, we have not achieved the fullness of democracy.”

Ndhlela said his uncle was very influential in forming his political views but it would be unfair to expect him not to be involved in business or get involved in some projects because he is related to a politician.

“My uncle has done a lot for this country when he was in Mozambique and locally. I come from a family of struggle heroes,” he said.

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