Ex-minister may walk free in corruption case

THE corruption case against former transport minister S’bu Ndebele is likely to be dropped after intervention by President Jacob Zuma‚ the City Press reported yesterday.

The newspaper cited three sources‚ which said that Zuma had appointed a senior to mediate between Ndebele and prosecutors after Ndebele had complained to the president about political interference in his case.

City Press said documents had revealed that there had been great haste to arrest Ndebele in 2015.

“Emails and an investigating officer’s diary reveal how National Director of Public Prosecutions [NDPP] Shaun Abrahams‚ Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) chief executive officer (CEO) Makhosini Msibi‚ the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Hawks’ anti-corruption task team head Major General Zinhle Mnonopi put pressure on the prosecutor and investigating officer to rush Ndebele’s arrest‚” the newspaper reported.

It is believed that the arrest was key in firming up a civil case against the company Tasima.

Tasima has been caught in a legal battle with RTMC‚ which wants Tasima to hand over a multi-million rand contract to manage RTMC’s Electronic National Administration Traffic Information System (eNatis).

Ndebele is accused of accepting a R10million bribe in exchange for fixing tenders worth department of transport tenders worth R2-billion.

Ndebele offered to resign from his position as high commissioner to Australia‚ in order to spare the country’s reputation‚ Business Day reported in November last year. — TMG