ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema will prepare for the closing stages of his disciplinary hearing this week with storm clouds gathering over his alleged involvement in illegal business dealings in his home province of Limpopo.
His political ally in the province, Premier Cassel Mathale, also faces tough questions as a multi-agency investigation into alleged tender-rigging by his provincial government picks up speed.
Closing arguments in Malema’s disciplinary hearing will be delivered on Thursday. The party’s disciplinary committee, chaired by ANC MP Derek Hanekom, will then adjourn to consider the evidence.
Malema and his fellow youth league executive committee members have been charged with, among other things, bringing the party into disrepute and sowing divisions within the movement.
The charges followed a number of controversial public statements by the league, including calls for “regime change” in Botswana – a move the ANC labelled “deeply embarrassing”.
ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu confirmed on Sunday that the final day of the hearings was set down for Thursday, when “the ANC and the defence will present their summations”.
“After the closing arguments, the disciplinary committee will consider arguments from both parties. After that, it will be the announcement of the outcome”, he said. However, Mthembu could not say how long the committee would take before delivering its verdict.
Malema is also under investigation by the Hawks, who have been probing his business dealings in Limpopo, especially allegations that Malema’s Ratanang Family Trust may have benefited from multimillion-rand government tenders.
An unnamed Limpopo businessman claimed he paid R200 000 into the trust after Malema facilitated a tender on his behalf.
Malema has denied any wrongdoing and has pointed out that he is not a government official and therefore not in a position to influence tenders.
The alleged tender-rigging centres on On-Point Engineering, headed by Malema’s former business partner, Lesiba Gwangwa, and which is partly owned by Malema’s family trust.
The company was awarded a R51 million tender in 2009 to design, manage and implement road construction and maintenance projects. It was done through a “project management unit” – a vehicle set up by the Limpopo government to manage transport-related tenders.
The unit also appears to be directly involved in the adjudication and awarding of tenders – a government function.
It has signed confidential agreements with successful contractors according to which On-Point Engineering scores between 50 percent and 90 percent of profits resulting from tenders it has helped to award. The secret agreements commit both parties to non-disclosure.
“Any information shared by the service provider (successful contractor) with the National Treasury will be on a statistical basis… no names will be made known unless the express written consent has been obtained from the person whose name is to be made known,” a pro forma memorandum of understanding states.
Mathale’s provincial administration also faces a probe by the Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT).
It is a multi-agency government anti-corruption body that specialises in complex commercial crimes. It includes representatives from the Special Investigating Unit, the assets forfeiture unit, the National Prosecuting Authority and the Hawks.
A task team spokeswoman said on Sunday that a case was brought to the attention of the Hawks in Polokwane “some time ago” and that “claims (of tender-rigging in the province) are being investigated”.
The Sunday Times reported on Sunday that a group of disgruntled business people in the province, who have established themselves as The Forum of Limpopo Entrepreneurs, provided investigators with a dossier of “irregular tenders” allegedly handed out by Mathale’s government.
The investigation is understood to be focused on the provincial departments of roads and transport and of health.
“The charges relate to the Limpopo provincial government as a whole, not necessarily the premier, as such,” she said. - Political Bureau