New details have emerged of the cosy relationship between Walter Senoko, the businessman who paid Mpumalanga public works minister Steve Mabona R1-million, and the minister himself. These details also suggest Mabona was not truthful when he told the Mail & Guardian a fortnight ago that he had been unaware of contracts that Senoko’s company had with his department.
In response to questions, Mabona this week again strongly denied he was aware of the details of contracts awarded by his department. He also denied he had pushed Senoko’s business interests.
The M&G last week revealed how, within days of R6,6-million being paid to Senoko’s company Positioning Corporate Underwriters and Insurance Consultants (PCUIC) by Mabona’s department in June, PCUIC transferred two amounts of R500 000 each to Mabona.
The R6,6-million had been paid in terms of an underwriting contract between Mabona’s department, PCUIC and a construction company.
Mabona denied in the M&G’s original story that the two R500 000 payments were kickbacks, claiming that they had been deposits on a car and a house he had sold Senoko. The M&G raised a number of questions about this explanation, including why neither the house nor the car has been transferred into Senoko’s name.
Beyond that, Mabona defended himself against charges of a conflict of interest by saying: “With respect, I did not know about PCUIC’s transactions [with] the department … I do not get involved in administrative issues.”
This, however, appears false in light of new evidence obtained by the M&G.
In May last year, documents show, Mabona travelled to China with a delegation that included Senoko, to inspect equipment which Mabona’s department wanted to acquire to replace its old fleet of earthmoving machinery.
This in itself suggests that Mabona took an active interest in departmental contracts. What increases the likelihood, however, that Mabona knew Senoko was about to get a contract, were two further aspects that show the close relationship between Mabona, his department and Senoko:
Travel agency services for that trip were provided by another company with which Senoko is involved, Mofenyi Traders. Senoko has confirmed his company did arrange the trip for Mabona and departmental officials, but insisted that it had been done for free.
However, documents in possession of the M&G show that Mofenyi Traders billed the department more than R300 000. Provincial sources claim there had been no tender for this.
On their return from China, Mabona’s department went to the provincial tender board with an urgent recommendation that Senoko’s company be given the contract to supply more than R9-million worth of earthmoving machinery. The tender board turned this down at the end of May last year, advising Mabona’s department to “adhere to the normal tender procedures for the acquisition of the equipment mentioned above”.
In spite of this, Mabona’s acting head of department, William Mthombothi, signed a very similar deal with PCUIC, trading under a different name, Bushi Investments, to rent earthmoving equipment to the department. The deal was valid for three years at R350 344 a month over 36 months, for a total of more than R12-million.
The department last week admitted that the agreement signed by Mthombothi had been irregular, and was later cancelled. Spokesperson Ina Georgala tried to justify the “administrative oversight” by saying: “If the department had erred with regard the above transactions, it had erred in its commitment to accelerating service delivery and empowering emerging contractors.”
Further contracts that Senoko companies obtained from Mabona’s department include those vacuum cleaners, bitumen emulsion, stable mix and weigh scales. These contracts amounted to several hundred thousand rands.
Mabona, through his representatives, Bhadrush Daya Attorneys, this week said he would not provide detailed answers to questions relating to this article, as the M&G was “obliged in law” to provide him with a draft article before publication.
The M&G has disputed it has such an obligation.
Bhadrush Daya Attorneys said on Mabona’s behalf: “We need to make it very clear that we maintain our position that Mr Mabona is not aware of any existing contracts that were awarded to Walter Senoko’s company PCUIC. The [R6,6-million] payment which was organised by DZ Civils [according the M&G’s information another party to, but alongside, Mabona’s department in the transfer] … is under investigation by the department …
“We reject with the contempt it reserves [sic] any insinuation that our client Mr Mabona was involved in the details of matters relating to contracts in the department.
“We again reject with the contempt it deserves any suggestion that Mr Mabona got involved in pushing for business for Walter Senoko or companies related to him.”