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·      Steve Tshwete manager, Mandla Mnguni, appointed a civil engineering company to do a forensic investigation into payments towards construction of Mhluzi High Voltage substation ·      Mnguni hoodwinked council to circumvent procurement procedures to appoint Mgiba Consulting ·      The manager authorised 11 payments amounting to R66 422 004 toward the substation’s construction

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Sizwe sama Yende

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The controversial municipal manager of Mpumalanga’s Steve Tshwete municipality authorised payments of R66.4 million towards an electricity substation but decided to launch an investigation allegedly because his associate’s company was not appointed.

Mandla Mnguni appears to have shot himself in the foot because he also appointed a civil engineering company and not a forensic audit firm to do a forensic investigation on the payments made to F-Tech (Pty) Ltd for the construction of the New Mhluzi High Voltage substation in 2022.

He did this after requesting the council to deviate from following supply chain management processes to appoint Mgiba Consulting on October 10 2024 as an emergency. However, Mnguni appointed Mgiba in January 2025 – meaning he hoodwinked councillors about the emergency of the appointment.

F-Tech (Pty) Ltd was paid R179.6 million over a period of three years from 2020 to 2023 for the construction of the substation to service about 25 000 households in Mhluzi township near Middelburg.

The company was appointed during the tenure of Mnguni’s predecessor, Bheki Khenisa, and he left Steve Tshwete Local Municipality in Middelburg at the inception of the project in February 2022.

Mnguni, according to insiders in the municipality, was not pleased with finding F-Tech doing the job because of his alleged tendency to appoint companies of his associates. He re-joined Steve Tshwete municipality on September 1 2022 after he had been on another job for about four years.

“He decided to investigate because he also wanted to remove officials who sat in the Bid Adjudication Committee and had identified collusion by a company of his close associate,” and insider said.

The insider said that Mnguni was so hell-bent on sabotaging the project, he decommissioned the substation on December 2023, even though it was built, tested and commissioned.

“The initiation of the investigation was not done based on irregularities identified by the auditor-general. In fact, there had been clean audits when the project was implemented. There have been allegations that the substation was not part of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP). It was listed in the 2020/2021 IDP on page 253,” said the insider.  

The People’s Eye has obtained evidence indicating that payments were made to F-Tech (Pty) Ltd for the substation project when Mnguni had already occupied the manager’s position.

The documents indicate 11 payments amounting R66 422 004.

“Why did he not cancel the contract if there was anything wrong? He authorised some of the payments himself. He continued paying for the project,” the insider said.

Khenisa and former chief finance officer, David Mogofe,  were however not interrogated before the final Mgiba Consulting report was compiled.

Mnguni did not respond to written question. Steve Tshwete mayor, Mhlonishwa Masilela, also did not respond said he had forwarded the questions to Mnguni.

The People’s Eye reported last month that a whistleblower had reported Mnguni to Mpumalanga Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Speedy Mashilo, and the auditor-general for overlooking a Bid Adjudication Committee finding to appoint an associate’s company on the panel of electricity contractors. 

Mnguni appointed Maqhoba Trading Enterprise and Mayivuthe to be on the panel of electric contractors on August 8 2023 for the financial years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26.

The two companies are owned by his associate, Joel Mahlangu.

Mnguni has been staying in Mahlangu’s house at an upmarket suburb in Aerorand Middelburg until last month.

He moved out after The People’s Eye questioned him and published that he relocated to the house after he separated from his wife last year.

Mnguni’s wife had found that he had an affair with his subordinate in the municipality. The wife allegedly stormed municipal offices with a knife in hand to threaten the employee about the affair.