Seven suspects, including local government officials and a former African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson, appeared in a South African court, charged with fraud linked to a 27 million rand (£1.2m; $1.6m) government contract.
The case centers around a waste management tender awarded five years ago by Gauteng’s provincial government to a company named Enviro-Mobi. An investigation revealed that Enviro-Mobi had undisclosed ties to former ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe, who was serving as a Member of Parliament at the time, according to police.
Though the suspects were not required to enter pleas, both Mabe and his wife denied the allegations. The couple, along with two executives from Gauteng’s provincial government, were among the seven individuals who voluntarily turned themselves in to the Hawks, South Africa’s elite police unit.
During the court hearing in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, all seven suspects were granted bail. Outside the courthouse, Mabe announced his resignation from the ANC’s executive committee but emphasized that it was not an admission of guilt.
The investigation revealed that Enviro-Mobi received 25 million rand as an advance for 200 vehicles, despite the contract stipulating that payments should only be made after portions of the work were completed. Police spokesperson Thandi Mbambo added that the vehicles were still in the possession of the service provider at the time of payment.
This is not the first corruption allegation against Mabe, who served as the ANC spokesperson from 2018 to 2023. In 2013, he was arrested over fraud charges involving the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), but was later cleared. In 2017, he was fined for benefiting from a contract with a state-owned rail company after a parliamentary committee investigation.
