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An anonymous letter alleges that both Mr Eminos Manyawi and Ms Maria Rambauli have been siphoning money from the university and have essentially captured the institution, turning it into a criminal enterprise through which they are able to facilitate corruption deals. – Higher Education and Training deputy minister, Mimmy Godwe.

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Sizwe sama Yende

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The council chairperson and chief finance officer of Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) allegedly demanded kickbacks from a company contracted to build a R600 million students' accommodation.

This is according to a whistleblowers’ missive that was submitted to the Department of Higher Education and Training, SMU audit and risk committee chairperson, Sandile Masuku, and the parliamentary portfolio committee, on September 2 2024.

Deputy minister, Mimmy Gondwe, told the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education this week that the whistleblower implicated council chairperson, Maria Rambauli, and chief finance officer, Eminos Manyawi, in serious corruption allegations.

“The anonymous letter requested the minister’s intervention into instituting a forensic investigation into allegations levelled against Mr Manyawi and Ms Rambauli. The letter further requested the immediate institution of disciplinary processes against Mr Manyawi and Ms Rambauli,” Godwe said.

"The letter alleges that both Mr Manyawi and Ms Rambauli have been siphoning money from the university and have essentially captured the institution, turning it into a criminal enterprise through which they are able to facilitate corruption deals,” she said.

The 2000-bed accommodation project started in 2021, but was delayed due to a rezoning process and also the contractor, Clear Choice Builders (CCB), being put under a business rescue process. So far, accommodation space for 1 000 beds has been completed.

Godwe said that the whistleblower complained that Rambauli and Manyawi were misusing their positions by disregarding the law and the principles of good governance.

The duo allegedly paid service providers fraudulently to receive kickbacks and negotiated a 10% cut of the contractors’ payments for themselves.

“Apparently, Ms Rambabuli has frustrated the 2000-bed infrastructure project in that she meets contractors outside the university to negotiate deals for personal gain while misusing her title as chairperson,” Godwe said.

She added that the deal was negotiated by Manyawi and the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) flagged the tender because CCB did not qualify.

The letter, Godwe said, recommended that Manyawi and Rambauli be suspended and the service provider be investigated. It further recommended that an audit of all tenders awarded by the university should be conducted.

SMU management have recently, on May 27 2025, informed the department that it had commissioned an independent investigation, which would be tabled before council on or before June 9 2025.

Godwe said that the auditor-general was also conducting its own investigation. “The ministry takes and regards these allegations in a very serious light,” she said.

Senior manager in the Auditor-General’s office, Zinhle Matthews, said 12 July 2023 was the originally planned completion date of the project.

The contractor was appointed on 20 March 2019, but construction began two years later on 21 July 2021 due to a lengthy process of rezoning the land.

“The market was not tested, and this demonstrated lack of transparency and economic use of resources,” Matthews said. She said that the expenditure on the project in the previous year was R439million, excluding the consultants fee of R49 million.

Manyawi said penalties were levied against CCB and they were forced to cede the contract when they went under business rescue. He, however, said that the DBSA only raised a concern regarding Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) registration.

“CCB went into financial difficulties. When they started, they were ahead of schedule. The university forced them to cede the contract. CCB is under business rescue. Our hands are tied,” he said.