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By Loyiso Sidimba 
1 hour ago
Johannesburg – Controversial Deputy Minister of State Security and member of the ANC’s national executive committee, Zizi Kodwa, has once again come to the fore for reasons related to corruption.
This time, in Zondo’s commission of inquiry into the state capture, it was revealed that Kodwa allegedly received R375,000 paid by a former executive of South Africa’s largest tech group, EOH Holdings.
ENS Forensics Managing Director Steven Powell claimed that Kodwa received the money in eight payments from former EOH utility executive Jehan Mackay.
In June 2017, the former general treasurer of the ANC Youth League, Reggie Nkabinde, allegedly received R500,000, listed as a loan. Kodwa and Nkabinde are listed using the initials, NG (Ncediso Goodenough) Kodwa and MR (Mzwakhe Reginald) Nkabinde, respectively.
Another recipient of EOH’s generosity was Luthuli House aide Siyabulela Gift (SG) Sintwa, who reportedly received R291 600 in six payments.
Powell said that Kodwa, Nkabinde and Sintwa received the money between May 2015 and June 2017.
The former spokesman has also been in the spotlight after the businessman accused of fraud, corruption and money laundering Edwin Sodi suspiciously paid him R180,000.
The commission also heard that the Deputy Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Mayor of Johannesburg until 2016, Parks Tau’s wife, Philisiwe Twala-Tau, received R 512,000 for a trip to New York for students in a program she ran in June. of 2016.
The commission heard shocking evidence that the ANC in Johannesburg funded its unsuccessful 2016 local government election campaign through a R50 million donation from EOH Mthombo, a subsidiary of Holdings.
This followed a request from the current Johannesburg Mayor and ANC Regional Chairman Geoff Makhubo to Asher Bohbot, the former CEO of South Africa’s largest technology group, EOH Holdings.
At the time, the request was made in May 2016 when Makhubo was the ANC’s regional treasurer in Johannesburg.
Powell told the chairman of the commission, Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo, that Makhubo had informed Bohbot in an email that the ANC needed R50m to fund its election campaign, leading to the party being toppled by a coalition. DA and EFF that collapsed last year.
According to Powell, EOH paid the ANC in tranches ranging from R3m to R10m between May and August 2016.
He said that EOH, which appointed ENS Forensics to investigate doubtful contracts and payments last year, reported what the firm had found to the Hawks in October last year in terms of section 34 of the Prevention and Fight against Corruption.
Activities Law.
The law establishes that any person in a position of authority who suspects the commission of crimes such as theft, fraud, extortion, falsification or pronouncement involving an amount of 100,000 rand or more has the duty to report such knowledge or suspicion to the police.
Powell testified that Makhubo, in his capacity as ANC treasurer in Johannesburg in September 2014 prior to the regional conference, said that the ANC required R4.3m in total EOH for the regional meeting to pay for venue, accommodation, transportation and conference paraphernalia for 500 delegates. of branches and their leagues. Makhubo thanked the company for its contribution to strengthening democracy.
“It appears that the ANC was quite active in seeking donations from EOH this particular month,” Judge Zondo observed.
In the same month, the ANC Tshwane region also requested assistance to pay service providers over the course of the week as its 300 delegate conference was in jeopardy and could not proceed without EOH intervention.
Makhubo’s company, Molelwane Consulting, also received a donation of R570,000 from Tactical Software Systems Managed Services, another EOH subsidiary, in September 2014.
“I don’t know if there was any services provided for that payment, we tried to establish what the services were,” Powell said.
He said former and current employees told investigators that Makhubo’s company did not perform any work, as the work was performed by EOH employees.
Powell said this was a common practice they found at EOH, where people were paid when they had not provided any services.
He described this practice as very costly for EOH.
A GROUP of EOH employees colluded with government officials to circumvent bidding regulations on multiple occasions, illegally arranged contract extensions with state agencies such as the City of Johannesburg, and even colluded with them to obtain information on bidding before they were announced.
Africa’s chief forensic services chief Steven Powell told the State Capture Commission of Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo on Wednesday that the law firm’s investigations revealed that when things went wrong, EOH employees would use “people politically exposed to exert influence and make sure things went well. ” . They would intervene and the decision to go out to tender would be changed… ”he said.
The commission also heard evidence of multiple payments made by EOH executive at the time, Jehan
Mackay, who in turn paid it to senior ANC members during 2015, including current Deputy Intelligence Minister Zizi Kodwa, who was an ANC spokesperson at the time, former President Jacob Zuma’s adviser Siybulela Zintwa, and Reggie Nkabinde, former treasurer of the ANC Youth League.
Powell described how Mackay would pay these party officials from his personal bank account, upon receiving the EOH funds.
Earlier this week, CEO Stephen van Coller testified how he had found serious corporate governance flaws in EOH when he was appointed in 2018, including the absence of a company policy on political donations, and that the group appeared to have made numerous donations to a single party in previous years.
The payments featured in ENSafrica’s research took place between 2015 and 2017.
They were made to Mackay’s personal account of TSS MS, an EOH subsidiary that he acquired in 2011.
Mackay was one of the founders of TSS MS, before it was acquired by EOH.
The commission also heard evidence of substantial irregularities in the tenders in the city of Johannesburg.
EOH was awarded a large number of tenders, such as a R250 million contract for SAP support between 2012 and 2016, and a SAP software contract worth R404m between 2016 and 2019.
The commission heard evidence from emails relayed between the current mayor of the city, Geoff Makhubo, and Patrick Makhubedu, an EOH sales director at the time, where Makhubo asked Makhubedu to help him with the payment of R582 100 for the facilities to perform a Great
Johannesburg ANC Youth League Conference, an amount that was duly paid by TSS Services CFO Rene Jonker, second author of the payment being Jehan Mackay.
He resigned over the weekend on the date he was asked to meet with forensic investigators.
Powell said Makhubedu had resigned from EOH on Friday before ENSafrica asked to meet with him in connection with the investigation on Monday.
“Makhubo and Makhubedu were linked to a number of entities that were transacting with one or the other at the time,” Powell said.
He said it was “not uncommon” to have found in his investigation that there was no evidence of any work performed by various service providers to EOH at the time, despite the payments EOH made to them.
Political Bureau
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