The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has withdrawn corruption charges against former cabinet minister and ANC national executive committee member Zizi Kodwa. Photo: Frennie Shivambu/Gallo Images
Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa faces corruption and money-laundering charges for a more than R1.6 million alleged bribe he received, part of which he used to buy a Jeep vehicle.
Several highly placed sources close to the National Prosecuting Authority said the charge sheet detailing Kodwa’s alleged crimes is being “fine-tuned” before NPA head Shamila Batohi authorises the prosecution of the minister.
The insiders added that the case against Kodwa was strong because emails showed his involvement in influencing the awarding of lucrative contracts to information technology company EOH Holdings while he was an ANC national executive committee member and the party’s spokesperson.
The investigation into the minister follows the April 2022 release of Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s state capture commission report, which found that Kodwa was “beholden” to executives at EOH, who allegedly doled out millions of rand in bribes to the ANC and its officials to secure state contracts.
But Henry Mamothame, spokesperson for the Investigating Directorate, a division of the NPA tasked with prosecuting high-level, complex corruption, denied it was investigating Kodwa. “We do not have this case before us.”
Kodwa’s pending charges come after last month’s arrest of Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the former National Assembly speaker. She faces 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering for receiving about R4.5 million in alleged bribes from December 2016 to July 2019 from a defence contractor while she was minister in that portfolio.
Like Mapisa-Nqakula’s matter, Kodwa’s case is being handled by the Investigating Directorate.
During his state capture commission testimony in June 2021, Kodwa admitted to receiving a R1 million “loan” from his “friend”, former EOH executive Jehan Mackay, and used R890 000 of that to buy a Jeep in June 2015.
“I confirm that this was a loan from my friend, and no strings attached. I obtained it at a time of financial difficulty and I would not have been able to secure a bank loan,” Kodwa told the state capture commission.
According to the inquiry’s report, EOH executives also paid for Kodwa’s stays in upmarket houses in Cape Town between March 2015 and February 2016, which valued at more than R650 000.
NPA sources this week said that the R1 million “loan” and the R650 000 payments for accommodation, were tantamount to bribes
The commission’s report said EOH received more than R400 million in state contracts, including work to upgrade the City of Johannesburg’s information technology network and security systems, and to provide software licences.
The Independent Directorate’s investigators were not satisfied with Kodwa’s “loan from a friend” because there is evidence, including emails, linking the minister to EOH officials leading up to the alleged bribes.
“In fact, his involvement in the awarding of the contracts can be proven through email communication between him and the [EOH] parties involved. He never expected that there might be investigations into the contracts, which is why all of them were careless,” said one insider, who asked to remain anonymous.
Another source claimed there was “mounting pressure” in the NPA to “start prosecuting all the people named in the state capture report”.
“The pressure is to such an extent that prosecutors have been informed to drop cases that are seen as less important in favour of the state capture prosecutions. It is a directive from the national director of public prosecutions’ [NDPP] office,” the source added.
“The NDPP wants action, especially with cases that involve money laundering allegations.”
Mamothame did not answer questions about prioritising state capture inquiry cases.
Kodwa had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.
Sources said the Financial Action Task Force — an intergovernmental organisation targeting money laundering and the financing of terrorism — will visit South Africa this month. This comes after the task force found in an October 2021 report that the country failed in 20 of the 40 standards and in all 11 of the measures to combat money laundering.
“The report concluded that South Africa has a solid legal framework for combatting money laundering and terrorist financing but significant shortcomings remain,” the task force said.
“In particular, the country needs to pursue money laundering and terrorist financing in line with its risk profile, including by proactively seeking international cooperation, detecting and seizing illicit cash flows, and improving the availability of beneficial ownership information.”
The high-profile money-laundering prosecutions against Mapisa-Nqakula, and now possibly Kodwa, are part of the NPA’s efforts to reassure the task force that the country was dealing with commercial crimes.
“So, there is a lot of pressure on the investigators. Zizi Kodwa is low-hanging fruit for the NPA because there is a strong case of money laundering against him,” said an insider.
“After the demise of the [former specialised crime unit] Scorpions, I think everyone thought it was now a free-for-all in doing corrupt activities.”
The M&G understands that Kodwa’s charge sheet is almost complete, with officials in the Independent Directorate “fine-tuning” it.
“The NPA does not want any problems and to be embarrassed in any way,” a senior official in the NPA said, adding that EOH was kept afloat by state contracts it “illegally” received.
“You know, if that company did not defraud the state, it would have closed by now. It was defrauded of a lot of money by its own employees,” they said.
These views are somewhat backed by EOH’s results for the past six months of its financial year ending 31 January 2024, released in March, which showed that its group operating profits fell sharply to R9 million from R142 million in the previous corresponding period.
In a statement published in March, the company said its financial woes had continued in this year’s first three months.
“Despite an improvement in trading and tendering activity in the second three-month period, the challenging environment has led to a reduction in revenue,” the company said.