Mhlathuze water board executive Duze claimed to be a 'dangerous man'

The suspended CEO of Mhlathuze Water, Mthokozisi Pius Duze, told a senior  employee who was co-operating with an investigation into alleged R37m procurement fraud that he was a “dangerous man when pushed into a corner ” — and there would be consequences.

And a few weeks later, the employees’ parents were accosted in their home and stabbed by an unknown assailant.

This is according to Col Ngoako Frans Mphaki,  the police officer investigating the alleged fraudulent appointment of an attorney's firm by the water board.

The state alleges that Duze and CFO Babongile Mnyandu, and others,  colluded to make sure attorney Sthembelo Ralph Mhlanga and his company Mhlanga Incorporated were appointed to a legal panel and to ensure that they got most of the work through which they scored R37m  in just 20 months.

Duze, Mhlanga, Mnyandu and attorney Thabiso Khumalo are charged with fraud and corruption.

Duze, along with Dr Nonhlanhla Mkhize, the director-general in the premier’s office, Mhlanga and Siphiwe Mabaso are charged with intimidation, defeating/obstructing the course of justice and fraud for interfering with the internal probe into the alleged corrupt contract.

The state is opposing their bail. The application is ongoing before Durban regional magistrate Garth Davis.

In his affidavit, filed with the court, Mphaki says given the allegations against them, none of the accused could be trusted not to attempt to influence, intimidate or endanger witnesses or conceal or destroy evidence.

“The conspiracy between the four must be considered in the light of numerous whistle-blowers and witnesses who are threatened, intimidated and assassinated, which is commonplace when government fraud and corruption cases are under investigation,” he said.

He said the appointment of Mhlanga Inc was first flagged in a statutory audit conducted by the office of the auditor-general.

He had evidence that both Mkhize and Duze had threatened and intimidated employees of the bulk water services authority to stop them from co-operating with the audit.

He said after the audit report, the chairperson of Mhlathuze, Thabi Shange, commissioned a forensic audit and investigation in December 2021.

It was finalised at the end of January and she was given the only copy.

Mphaki said Shange, in a statement, had alleged that  Mkhize had introduced her to a man “from the National Intelligence Agency”.

The man had come to her home, threatened her and coerced her into giving him the report, which she did because she was afraid.

The police officer said his investigations had revealed that the man was (accused) Siphiwe Mabaso, who had previously been charged with committing crimes.

He had now taken his fingerprints to establish if he had any previous convictions.

Telephone records, analysed by a specialist forensic investigator, showed that Mkhize and Mabaso had known each other since 2021 and the four accused had conspired to intimidate Shange to stop the ongoing investigation.

He said soon afterwards, in April this year, Mhlanga had sent an email to members of the Mhlathuze board,  attaching a copy of the forensic report, which had been “forcibly removed” from Shange and “ could only have been obtained from Mabaso,”.

He said Duze had been suspended in November last year.

When he arrived for his disciplinary hearing in July this year, he came with “various unknown men with AK 47 rifles”.

The hearing could not proceed because those involved feared for their safety.

There was also evidence that Duze had tried to use political influence to get his job back, and that he had threatened auditors and a forensic specialist, hired to probe the alleged corrupt deal.

In particular, he said, Mhlanga and Duze were “hostile and dangerous” towards anyone who sought to hold them accountable for their conduct.

“The evidence of intimidation, fraud, forgery and defeating the ends of justice is overwhelming against all four,” he said, noting that Duze had more than R10m and Mhlanga more than R7m in their bank accounts — more than enough to flee.

In her affidavit, Mkhize said she knew Mabaso “because he shares the same surname as my mother”.

He had asked her if she knew the chair of the board.

“I was uncomfortable to share her number with him ... out of courtesy I telephoned her and asked if she would be comfortable with me forwarding her number to him. She agreed. I did not introduce him as a member of the National Intelligence Agency.  I did not even know what Mabaso’s intentions were.”

She said she had never met Mhlanga “ever in my life” and had never communicated with him.

She had last communicated with Duze in 2018.

She said the entire case was based on “falsehoods and conjecture”.

“This is a matter I take seriously ... I have an interest in it being finalised expeditiously particularly as my name is all I have.”

The bail hearing continues on Thursday.

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