Nxesi’s effort to set aside Thuja Capital job contract bit by delay

The CEO of the company that was awarded the Unemployment Insurance Fund contract has made bribery claims against Minister Thulas Nxesi, as well as Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande. 

Mthunzi Mdwaba of Thuja Capital insists the ministers, through intermediaries, demanded bribes totalling R500 million as part of the R5 billion tender. 

The case was meant to begin in the High Court in Pretoria this morning. 

The Labour Department’s Trevor Hattingh says it was not placed on the court roll. 

He accused Mdwaba's legal team of being unprepared.

"The papers from Mr Mdwaba and his team were not filed; we've been engaging with them ever since the 5th to find out what's happening and when we are getting the papers.” 

“They've been giving us a run-around for quite some time now. This matter does not pertain to the bribery allegations; they set aside the R5 billion UIF Thuja Capital contract as far as we are concerned. This matter needs to proceed, and the court will pronounce on whether that is a valid contract or not,” said Hattingh.   

Mdwaba, in turn, accused the department of delay tactics.

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"The delays are playing a very dirty game. How do you wait for 12 months, waiting for a forensic investigation to be finished, and everybody tells you there's a forensic investigation that is going to get to the bottom of how you got this contract, which we say was valid, it was done properly.

"And then you refuse to give us that forensic report. So, the delay is theirs, it’s created by them. They are manipulating things because when you've got state resources, you can abuse things, you've got all this money you keep using. This is the state money. All we want is to create over 700 jobs that we got a valid contract for," said Mdwaba.