Pule Mabe says he will plead not guilty in R27m tender fraud case ...

Pule Mabe. File photo

Former ANC spokesperson and current national executive committee (NEC) member Pule Mabe has said he will plead not guilty to charges of more than R27 million in tender fraud. 

Mabe and six co-accused face a combined 16 counts of fraud, money laundering and the contravention of the Public Finance Management Act for the March 2017 contract to supply the Gauteng agriculture and rural development department with 200 waste-management, three-wheel vehicles to boost small and medium business participation in the sector. 

The vehicles were known as kariki carts, as first reported by the Mail & Guardian when it broke the story in June 2018.

On Wednesday, in the Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court, sitting in Palm Ridge, Mabe conceded that the counts against him could kick in the ANC’s step-aside resolution, which stipulates that a party member should relinquish any state, government or organisational position once criminal charges are formalised. 

Mabe also pleaded poverty, telling the court he earned a monthly income of R25 000 from a small business of which he is a director. 

Former sports minister Zizi Kodwa and former speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula resigned from their respective positions earlier this year after being criminally charged with fraud and corruption. 

But Mabe slammed the charges against him, calling them “meritless and without substance”, adding that, should the matter make it to trial, he would plead not guilty.

“I will not be found guilty of any charges preferred against me. I did nothing wrong and cannot conceive of any evidence that can be brought against me,” he asserted. 

The contentious March 2017 tender was awarded to KGP Media Holdings, which traded as Enviro Mobi at the time of the contract and had as its director Mabe’s wife, Mmatlhekelo Mabe, who is also charged. 

The other accused are Loyiso Mkwana, the department’s chief director, Thandeka Mbassa, who was the departmental head from March 2016 to August 2018, Matilda Gasela, who succeeded Mbassa before going on pension this year, and Abdullah Ismail, the department’s chief financial officer from October 2014 to March 2020. 

Tinyiko Mahuntsi, the sixth accused, is a director of KGP Media and took over after Pule Mabe resigned in August 2014. 

The main contention of the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) case, as detailed in its charge sheet, is the roughly R27.5 million prepayments the provincial department made to Enviro Mobi — payments that the accused did not dispute — for what the state claimed was a breach of contract and money for work not done. 

According to the charge sheet, the contract stated that Enviro Mobi would be paid “after the completion, review, and approval of each deliverable received from [the] service provider”. 

“The invoice must detail activities performed,” it reads. 

It added that, in March 2017, Enviro Mobi submitted its first invoice a day after the tender was awarded for “fleet acquisition” for more than R16.4 million, invoicing two more times in September and November of the same year for a combined nearly R11 million. 

The NPA claims the invoices were “not accompanied by any supporting documentation detailing the completion, review, [or] approval of each deliverable or any delivery notes”. 

Further, the alleged fraudulent company, when submitting its bid for the tender, did not disclose its affiliation with any high-ranking political figure — that being Mabe, who was an MP at the time. 

He hit back at the NPA, saying that the vehicles were delivered, adding that former premier David Makhura launched the project at a public event in Thembisa in Ekurhuleni with the three-wheel machines present. 

This was echoed by his wife, who said she was only charged by virtue of her marriage. 

“I am absolutely convinced that should I be required to stand trial, I will be found not guilty,” she said. 

The other accused also stressed their innocence and said that they, too, would plead not guilty. 

All accused were released on R30 000 bail each and are expected back in court in March next year.