A Cape Town businessman has been arrested after allegedly attempting to hand over R1.4m in cash to the city’s top official in exchange for protecting a lucrative municipal contract and stopping an internal investigation.
Tuesday’s dramatic arrest followed a sting operation involving the City of Cape Town and the police’s commercial crime investigation (CCI) unit.
According to the city, the operation formed part of an ongoing joint investigation into alleged fraud and corruption involving a company contracted to the municipality.
The sting was executed at a shopping centre in Somerset West, where city manager Lungelo Mbandazayo, acting as an authorised agent in the operation and at what the city described as “significant personal risk”, met the suspect.
“During the encounter, the suspect allegedly handed the city manager R1.4m in cash. The payment was purportedly offered as a bribe in exchange for assistance in retaining the vendor’s contracts with the city and the halting of internal city investigations,” the city said in a statement.
CCI officers immediately moved in, seizing the R1.4m in cash, a mobile phone and a Toyota bakkie believed to have been used in the commission of the alleged offence.
The suspect was arrested. He is expected to appear in the Cape Town magistrate’s court on Thursday.
This is another demonstration of the extraordinary leadership that characterises our city’s daily pursuit of good governance and zero-tolerance approach to those seeking illicit benefit from this government
— Geordin Hill-Lewis, Cape Town mayor
The city revealed that the Somerset West sting followed an earlier undercover operation conducted on February 26 at Table Bay Mall in Sunningdale, under section 252A of the Criminal Procedure Act.
During that encounter, the company director allegedly approached Mbandazayo seeking assistance to halt the city’s internal investigation processes. In return, he allegedly offered R4m in gratification, committing to an initial cash payment of R2m.
On February 27 the director of public prosecutions authorised the continuation of the controlled operation, leading to this week’s sting operation.
Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis commended Mbandazayo for his role in the operation. “I commend the bravery shown by our city manager, who played a central role in a SAPS sting operation by posing as the key figure to attract the suspects to the scene,” he said.
“This is another demonstration of the extraordinary leadership that characterises our city’s daily pursuit of good governance and zero-tolerance approach to those seeking illicit benefit from this government.”
Mbandazayo has served as city manager since 2018 and was reappointed for a second term in 2022. The city said his tenure has been marked by strengthened governance systems and collaboration with the National Treasury to blacklist front companies linked to criminal networks.
As the criminal case unfolds, attention is likely to turn to the scope of the underlying municipal contracts under investigation and whether additional officials or business associates may be implicated.
TimesLIVE
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