Former DA human settlements MMC Malusi Booi will appear alongside alleged 28s gang affiliated underworld boss Ralph Stanfield in an R850m tender corruption case in Cape Town on Friday.
Booi, who resigned as a councillor in the City of Cape Town in October, was arrested by detectives from the provincial commercial crimes and anti-gang units in the Eastern Cape on Monday. Police raided his city office in March last year and he then resigned.
At the time, Booi told TimesLIVE Premium: “There is no charge against me, I cannot sit and idle. I have decided to redirect my energy to other opportunities ... I will put more effort into my farming activities, do other projects at my disposal.”
He boasted about achieving a “99.3% delivery target at human settlements in the city, something unprecedented”.
The 47-year-old former councillor appeared in the Cape Town magistrate’s court on Wednesday alongside Abdul Kader, 41, Mohammad Arnod, 37, Randal Mullins, 67, Breda Mullins, 65, Thuli Imgih, 39, Nomvuyo Mnyaka, 41, Lona Ndoda, 33, Siphokazi September, 41. September is the city’s former director of public housing. She was fired in January. Mnyaka is Booi’s wife.
Booi and his co-accused face 15 charges including contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, corruption, intimidation, fraud, money laundering and racketeering linked to 11 tenders worth about R850m awarded to three companies linked to Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson. According to the state, their alleged criminal “enterprise”, known as The Firm, ran in the city from January 2019 until March 2023.
Booi is accused of accepting “gratification” from Stanfield to abuse his power in favour of the alleged 28s boss. September also allegedly accepted money from the couple to influence the awarding of tenders to their company Glomix House Brokers and related businesses. The Mullins are accused of receiving R735,000 in their accounts which was allegedly meant for Booi, Stanfield and his wife. The state alleged that Johnson received an expensive Rolex watch and R20,000 from the enterprise.
The prosecution said it had compelling evidence including handwriting reports, bank records and witnesses to transactions. According to the prosecution, the companies colluded and prejudiced the city and other bidders. Though the State did not oppose bail, the prosecutor said it had a strong case.
Stanfield and his wife, who are in custody for different cases, will be joined to the tender case on Friday. They were initially arrested in a case related to car theft in 2023.
These individuals worked together for an enterprise that was led by Ralph Stanfield and his wife. We ended up calling it the Ralph Stanfield and Nicole enterprise
— Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson for the prosecution,
Stanfield survived a shooting in Johannesburg in July 2017. Last year, the co-founder of luxury venue Ayepyep Lifestyle Lounge in Cape Town, which closed its doors amid allegations of extortion, sold his shares for R3.5m as part of a court settlement involving Stanfield and his wife.
Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson for the prosecution, said more arrests were imminent.
“We had a bail application, which the state did not oppose. They [the accused] did their bail application through affidavits. After that, the state proposed bail amounts. They proposed bail amounts ranging between R2,000 and R5,000. But the state responded to those. The bail amounts proposed by the state were between R20,000 and R200,000,” he said.
“We did that because we looked at the amounts that were involved in the charges that were preferred against them. We mentioned in court that 11 tenders were given to three companies of which these accused were part of an enterprise. The city was prejudiced to R850m.”
Ntabazalila said the defence would respond to the proposed bail amounts on Friday.
“These individuals worked together for an enterprise that was led by Ralph Stanfield and his wife. We ended up calling it the Ralph Stanfield and Nicole enterprise,” he said.
“The main purpose of this enterprise was to get tenders from the City of Cape Town for the benefit of this enterprise and the benefit of each individual. Each individual benefited, either Mr Booi or his wife or his girlfriends and all the other people who were involved.”
He said though no-one is charged with “extortion in this state I don’t want to go into detail and talk about the underworld. When we come back on Friday we will add Mr Stanfield and his wife Nicole. But we may end up with 20 accused in this case.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.