Malema ally Gwangwa and company blacklisted

Business associates (from left) Kagiso Dichabe, Lesiba Gwangwa and Makgetsi Manthatha of axed ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema appear in the Polokwane Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, 25 September 2012. The State alleges the four misrepresented themselves to the Limpopo department of roads and transport, and a R52 million contract was awarded to one of the accused. They were granted bail of R40, 000 each. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA

Business associates (from left) Kagiso Dichabe, Lesiba Gwangwa and Makgetsi Manthatha of axed ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema appear in the Polokwane Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, 25 September 2012. The State alleges the four misrepresented themselves to the Limpopo department of roads and transport, and a R52 million contract was awarded to one of the accused. They were granted bail of R40, 000 each. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA

Published Sep 26, 2012

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Johannesburg - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has instructed the Limpopo Roads and Transport Department to blacklist Julius Malema’s business partner, Lesiba Gwangwa, from serving as a director in terms of the provisions of the law.

In her provisional report into engineering firm On-Point, Madonsela ordered authorities and the department to also blacklist the company for fraudulently misrepresenting its bid for a R52 million project-management unit tender and subsequently benefiting from it improperly.

On-Point is an engineering firm that is partly owned by Malema and Gwangwa’s family trusts. Gwangwa is the chief executive. “Commence the process of imposing a restriction penalty on On-Point and Mr Gwangwa in terms of the provisions or clause 23 of the General Conditions of Contract,” Madonsela said.

This means Gwangwa and his company may be blacklisted from doing business with the government for up to 20 years.

On-Point has been the cash cow of Malema, his family, and even the ANC Youth League, during his tenure. The company and its sister firms have made more than R400m from Limpopo government tenders since 2007.

Malema, Gwangwa and others are appearing in court on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.

While Malema has emerged as the spider at the centre of a corrupt On-Point tender, Gwangwa and the head of the Limpopo Roads and Transport Department, Ntau Letebele, helped to manipulate the awarding of the contract, according to Madonsela.

But who are Gwangwa and Letebele?

An engineer by profession, Gwangwa has been Malema’s key business ally and confidant since 2008. Born and bred in Mahwelereng, 60km south of Mokopane, his big break in business started when he was introduced to Malema in 2005. He then formed SGL Engineering Projects, appointing Malema as a director and a 70 percent shareholder.

Since then, Gwangwa’s business fortunes grew alongside Malema’s political ones, resulting in their companies and family trusts buying a string of luxury properties and cars.

Malema’s political ally, Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale, appointed Letebele as departmental head in 2009. The former spokesman of the national Department of Transport, who hails from Ga-Sekororo near Tzaneen, presided over a department that was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. These included alleged corruption, irregularities, fraud and nepotism in the awarding of tenders and the appointment of staff.

In a separate report into the ANCYL’s chaotic Makhado provincial conference in 2010, Madonsela found Letebele guilty of maladministration and improper conduct for ordering the arrest of Malema’s rival by an off-duty traffic cop for political reasons.

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The Star

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