Hawks arrest alleged masterminds of asbestos deal

IAVAN PIJOOS and ORRIN SINGH

The Hawks have arrested five of the seven alleged masterminds behind a R200m asbestos audit project in the Free State.

Hawks spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi confirmed that five people were arrested. Two remained on the run.

“We have arrested four of them. I am awaiting an update from my guys in Gauteng regarding one of the suspects there. Two of the other suspects, one in KwaZulu-Natal and Pretoria remain on the run,” he said. In an update after 2pm he added that five had been arrested. “We are in communication with the remaining two and have told them to hand themselves over.”

TimesLIVE has it on good authority that the man sought in KZN is a recently appointed senior official from the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone. He previously held senior positions at the departments of trade and industry and energy.

The arrests follow a R255m tender the Free State department of human settlements awarded in 2014 to audit and assess households in the province with asbestos roofing.

The tender was awarded to Blackhead Consulting and Diamond Hill Trading. The joint venture later subcontracted Mastertrade 232 to do the audit. Mastertrade, in turn, subcontracted ORI Group to do the audit and assessment for R21.3m.

Diamond Hill Trading was owned by businessman Ignatius “Igo” Mpambani who was murdered.

Mulaudzi said the suspects would appear in the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court on Friday.