Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe and his co-accused were each released on R30,000 bail on Wednesday in connection with the corruption case related to the tuk-tuk tender.
Mabe, 44, Loyiso Mkwana, 51, Thandeka Mbasa, 59, Matilda Gasela, 65, Abdullah Mohammed Ismail, 50, Mmatlhekelo Elsie Mabe, 46, and Tinyiko Mahuntsi, 46, appeared in the Palm Ridge specialised commercial crimes court on Wednesday.
The seven are expected to appear in the same court on March 25, 2025. Ismail, however, will return to court on November 11 for an amendment of the bail conditions application.
The court ordered that each accused be available for court attendance on a date on which the matter was postponed to and remain in attendance. It also ordered the accused hand over their passports to the investigating officer.
The affidavit of the investigating officer was read into the record during the proceedings.
Magistrate Sharon Soko-Rantao said she was disappointed with the affidavit of the investigating officer “because when dealing with bail there is crucial information the investigating officer must bring to the court as to the facts of the case”.
“How the people are linked is important because the court has to decide about the liberty of the applicants,” she said.
The case is in connection with a tender of about R27m awarded to Enviro-Mobi in March 2017 by the Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development.
Hawks spokesperson Brig Thandi Mbambo said they were arrested after a forensic report by the Special Investigating Unit into a tender issued in October 2016 by the department requesting proposals to integrate and formalise waste operatives into the mainstream waste management economy.
It was established during the investigation that R25m was paid to Enviro-Mobi for 200 motorised three-wheelers, “though all goods were in the possession of the service provider” and none had been handed over.
The tuk-tuks, or karikis, were intended for 58 waste pickers in the Ekurhuleni municipality, but they were not delivered. It was also discovered the service provider later issued a letter of demand to the department for a further payment of more than R9m for safekeeping, storage and ancillary services for the fleet.
In his affidavit, Mabe stated through his lawyer he was a member of the ANC and may consider stepping down from his responsibilities in light of the charges against him.
“I may have to consider stepping down from my responsibility as a member of the ANC which is consistent with [a] resolution of the ANC,” he said.
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