Former ANC spokesperson charged with fraud: Another scandal for the party

Former ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe is facing fraud charges over a R27 million waste management contract. Along with six other defendants, including Gauteng provincial government officials, Mabe appeared in court, denying the charges while resigning from the ANC executive committee.

A dubious contract with many grey areas
Pule Mabe, once the spokesperson for the African National Congress (ANC), finds himself at the centre of a corruption scandal that is further shaking the credibility of the ruling party. Mabe, along with six others, has been charged with fraud following an investigation by the South African police’s elite unit, the Hawks. The charges relate to a R27 million government contract awarded in 2018 by the Gauteng provincial government to a company called Enviro-Mobi for waste management services.

The contract stipulated that Enviro-Mobi was to receive advance payment only after the delivery of 200 waste collection vehicles. However, according to the Hawks, these vehicles were still in the possession of the supplier, even though R25 million had already been paid to the company. This detail aroused the suspicions of the authorities, who have since conducted a thorough investigation. To make matters worse, Enviro-Mobi failed to disclose that it had direct links to Mabe, then an ANC MP.

Denial of guilt and recidivism
Mabe, who served as ANC spokesperson between 2018 and 2023, fiercely denies the accusations. He publicly announced his resignation from the ANC executive committee, while clarifying that his departure in no way signified an admission of guilt. Indeed, this case is not the first corruption scandal involving Mabe. In 2013, he was accused of defrauding the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), charges of which he was acquitted.

In 2017, he was again sanctioned for illegally benefiting from a contract with a state-owned railway company. His current defence is that all of these accusations are unfounded and politically motivated, although the timing, amid rising tensions within the ANC, raises questions.

Implications for the ANC
These cases tarnish the image of the ANC, a party already tainted by several high-profile corruption scandals, seriously affecting its reputation among the South African electorate. The appearance in court of the accused, among them two senior officials from Gauteng province, is further evidence of the depth of the endemic evil of corruption within public institutions.

While the trial promises to be long and fraught with pitfalls, the South African people are wearily watching a new affair involving politics and public finances, once again calling into question the transparency of those in power.