Malusi Booi granted R250,000 bail in R1bn Cape Town tender case

Following a week in custody, former City of Cape Town human settlements mayco member Malusi Booi has been granted bail in a case involving allegations of eight unlawfully awarded tenders involving more than R1-billion.

Booi and nine co-accused made their first court appearance last week following their arrests.

They face accusations that they were involved in a tenders-for-cash enterprise allegedly headed by suspected 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson.

Read more: Court told Malusi Booi part of suspected 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield’s ‘multimillion-rand tender enterprise’

Charges against Booi and his co-accused relate to fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering.

The group appeared again in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 17 September.

In court, Booi concentrated on the proceedings. He wore the same clothes as at his first appearance last week.

Booi was granted bail of R250,000 – R50,000 more than the State initially suggested.

Booi’s bail was also 50 times the R5,000 his defence had suggested.

It appears that his bail was increased after magistrate Alida Theart noted that while some of the accused said they were in financial difficulty, they had assets including company shares and farms. Some were employed.

Aside from Booi, four others charged alongside him – Abdul-Kader Davids, Muhammadh Amod, Randall Mullins and his wife Brenda Mullins – were granted R250,000 bail.

Read more: How cops are dismantling The Firm’s ‘gang empire’ and developing a mega court case

Another accused, Suraya Manuel, an accountant arrested in May this year over another case linked to Stanfield’s brother Kyle, was granted bail of R150,000.

The remaining accused – Siphokazi September (a former city employee who was fired earlier this year), Nomvuyo Mnyaka and Lorna Mdoda (both Booi’s ex-partners according to what has emerged during court proceedings), as well as Thuli Imgib – were granted R25,000 bail each.

During Tuesday’s court proceedings, Theart criticised the accused for not providing proof of income, payslips and proof of employment that would have shown the court why they had requested bail amounts of between R2,500 and R10,000.

On Amod, who owns 49% of the company Boon Africa and who claimed his company was not doing well financially, Theart said, “You will note that there is no proof of bank statements, no proof showing that his business is deteriorating, and he did not indicate where the applicant will get the R5,000 from.”

During the proceedings, the accused were prohibited from contacting State witnesses.

They are not allowed to leave South Africa. Booi may also not leave the Eastern Cape, where he lives and where he was arrested about a week ago, without first discussing this with an investigation officer.

The National Prosecuting Authority in the Western Cape was satisfied with the outcome of the bail applications.

Spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: “[The accused] failed to provide details that can assist the court to come to a favourable decision for their part.

“For example, most of them failed to provide bank statements, or show the court where these monies they are proposing will come from, and the court was left with no other choice but to either stick with what we asked for or increase [the bail amounts].” 

The case against Booi and his co-accused was postponed to 16 October.

One of the key accusations in the case is that Booi accepted gratifications “from Ralph Stanfield in order to carry out or perform certain powers, duties or functions arising out of his employment as members [sic] of mayco, in order to act, by using their influence with others to obtain tenders, for the benefit of Ralph Stanfield.”

A separate case, in which Stanfield and Johnson are the main accused, is expected to be added to the Booi matter when he and his co-accused are back in court next month. Stanfield, Johnson and several co-accused are also set to appear virtually in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on that day – 16 October.

Stanfield and Johnson were arrested in September last year, initially on fraud and car theft charges. The case may now be merged with Booi’s. 

Read more: Malusi Booi and Ralph Stanfield — R1-bn in tenders and ex-gang boss’s assassination crop up in court

The Stanfield and Johnson case has grown to include various other suspects and several other accusations.

Some charges relate to the murder last year of City of Cape Town staff member Wendy Kloppers who was shot at a housing development site in Delft.

Read more: Suspect arrested for Cape Town ‘construction mafia’ murder of city worker Wendy Kloppers

According to a report, Cape Town city manager Lungelo Mbandazayo said Kloppers was murdered after the city refused to give in to gangsters who had been demanding work from contractors at the housing project.

Earlier this week, it emerged that Stanfield also faced charges in connection with the murder of ex-Hard Livings gang boss Rashied Staggie.

Staggie was shot dead on 13 December 2019 in Salt River, in the same street a mob had murdered his brother Rashaad 23 years earlier. DM