The serious allegations of corruption concerning a contractor and the Free State premier, Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, will be handed over to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in the province.
This comes after screenshots of a WhatsApp message, allegedly sent from Patrick Phuti of New Beginnings, a contractor that used to work on the construction of the Excelsior Tweespruit Road, did the rounds last week.
Roy Jankielsohn, DA leader in the Free State, said the party was deeply concerned by the contents of the message, which implicates, among others, the premier and her husband, the current speaker of the Mangaung Metro, Lawrence Mathae.
The allegations include claims by Phuti that he paid R400 000 for an event launch; that another contractor paid Phuti R2 million to deliver to premier Letsoha-Matae to facilitate the taking over of the project, presumably the said road by this contractor; Phuti’s claim that more than R4,5 million was spent on the instruction of the pemier (previously the MEC for Community Safety, Roads and Transport), presumably not related to the road project; that Phuti delivered R1 million to the pemier before an ANC Women’s League Conference; and that Phuti paid Mathae R500 000 and the staff of the premier in Welkom R100 000.
In a media release on Friday, 11 October, Letsoha-Mathae said she took note of the screenshots and that she distanced herself from these “malicious and unfounded” allegations levelled against her.
She addressed a formal letter to the chief executive officer of the contractor mentioned in the screenshots on Friday and refrained from making any comments regarding the matter on advice of her legal representatives.
Jankielsohn said these allegations, if proven true, highlight a troubling pattern of corruption and disregard for the lives of residents in the Free State.
“The poor road infrastructure in the province has a devastating impact on local economies and caused the deaths of many residents through road accidents.”
Armand Cloete, FF Plus LPW in the Free State, said he had already asked questions about these allegations in the Provincial Legislator.
“We will ask the Civil Service Commission to investigate the tender processes and the role that policitians play in the allocation of tenders.”
Jankielsohn said the DA called for an immediate investigation by the Hawks into these claims.
He said the department had many road contracts accross the province, involving hundreds of millions of rands and requiring multiple contractors and new contracts, causing many of the worst roads in the Free State to be refurbished over extended timelines.
