Category Archives: S’bu Mpisane

Housing ‘Delivery’ in Durban is Corrupt from the Top to the Bottom

Uganda Transit Camp, Durban: A report from the frontlines of the struggle for democracy

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-02-13-uganda-transit-camp-durban-a-report-from-the-frontlines-of-the-struggle-for-democracy/

Just two decades after the dawn of democracy, an old horror is revisiting the new South Africa. Transit camps are back, and they are back with a vengeance, writes JARED SACKS.

Close to midnight and you can still hear babies wailing, couples quarrelling and house music blaring through the razor-thin zinc sheets that the eThekwini Municipality calls “walls” in Uganda Transit Camp near Isipingo, Durban. Getting a decent night’s sleep is a struggle in and of itself. And yet, that’s only the beginning.

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M&G: Mpisane wife arrested in hunt for the duo’s R140m assets

http://mg.co.za/article/2013-02-07-npa-seizes-mpisanes-cars-and-properties-worth-over-r40m>

Mpisane wife arrested in hunt for the duo’s R140m assets

Shawn Mpisane, one half of the controversial Mpisane couple, has been arrested on allegations of fraud as NPA search for assets worth R140-million.

According to IOL, the Durban businessperson was arrested on Thursday and is expected to appear in the Commercial Crimes Court.

On Tuesday, the KwaZulu-Natal High Court granted the Asset Forfeiture Unit an order authorising it to freeze and seize R140-million in property.

The National Prosecuting Authority on Wednesday said luxury cars valued at around R22-million were seized from former Durban metro police officer Sibusiso Mpisane and his wife.

The cars included a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Rolls-Royce Ghost, a Maserati, a Ferrari Scaglietti, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo and a Panamera Turbo, two armoured BMW 5 Series and two Hummers, the NPA said in a statement on Wednesday.

Various construction vehicles seized were valued at about R4.5-million.

Four fixed properties – including Mpisane’s home – valued at about R25-million were also seized.

The NPA said other assets were still being identified.

Inflating invoices

Shawn, who has been convicted of tax fraud, is on trial in the Durban Regional Court for alleged tax evasion.

She is accused of, among other things, inflating invoices by more than R5-million to cut her tax bill. She has pleaded not guilty.

“Since she [Shawn] is married in community of property to her husband, it includes all property owned by the couple,” the NPA said.

“This is one of the largest cases ever done by the Asset Forfeiture Unit, and is a significant blow in the fight against corruption.”

Past scandals

In 2011 the Mail & Guardian reported that Mpisane claimed her company had received no money from the municipality since October 2009. But records showed that more than R50-million was transferred electronically from the eThekwini municipality to Zikhulise in November and December 2009, weeks before the Mpisanes hosted a glitzy New Year’s Eve bash.

The Mpisanes made headlines again when they splurged almost R1-million on birthday and wedding celebrations in a single weekend. Shawn presented her husband with a white R1.8-million Maserati GranCabrio at his 40th birthday party at their La Lucia home.

Earlier that day the couple renewed their wedding vows at the five-star Fairmont Hotel and Resort in Zimbali. The 180 guests included Khulubuse Zuma, billionaire businessman Vivian Reddy and businessperson Kenny Kunene.

Oysters, sushi, champagne and three different types of French cognac were on the menu. The flowers alone reportedly cost R300 000. “We are a couple who like class,” Sibusiso told journalists. – Additional reporting by Sapa

The Times: R140m in former Durban cop’s assets attached by Asset Forfeiture Unit

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2013/02/06/r140m-in-former-durban-cop-s-assets-attached-by-asset-forfeiture-unit

R140m in former Durban cop’s assets attached by Asset Forfeiture Unit

The Asset Forfeiture Unit was on Wednesday morning attaching assets worth R140 million from former Durban metro police officer Sibusiso Mpisane, the Hawks said.

“The AFU together with the Hawks are executing a court order now. The assets are deemed as proceeds of a crime,” spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko said.

Mpisane allegedly misrepresented his construction company to the Construction Industry Development Board by submitting fraudulent gradings.

“He in turn won construction tenders worth R140 million.”

Mpisane became a millionaire after securing construction tenders to build low-cost government houses.

His wife, Shawn, who has been convicted of tax fraud, is on trial for tax evasion in the Durban Regional Court.

She is accused, among other things, of inflating invoices by more than R5 million to cut her tax bill. She has pleaded not guilty.

M&G: Darkness visible in JZ’s kingdom by the sea

http://mg.co.za/article/2012-07-19-darkness-visible-in-jacob-zumas-kingdom-by-the-sea

Darkness visible in JZ's kingdom by the sea

by Niren Tolsi

With the African National Congress beset by factionalism, is the province still 100% Jacob Zuma? Niren Tolsi investigates.

"Wherever I go I carry a gun these days," a longtime ANC member from the eThekwini region in KwaZulu-Natal said, "not because I am afraid of thugs or political opposition, but because I am afraid of my own."

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Sunday Times: Tax dodger’s R176m deal

http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2012/01/15/tax-dodger-s-r176m-deal

Tax dodger’s R176m deal
BRETT HORNER

A BUSINESSWOMAN is demanding the eThekwini municipality honour a secret R176-million housing contract on which it is backtracking.

The contract, which never went out to tender, was suspended after the city’s legal advisers pointed out that Mabongi Shauwn Mpisane had a criminal record.

Mpisane and her husband, former city policeman Sibusiso Mpisane, are known for their flashy lifestyle and for hosting lavish parties attended by celebrities and high-ranking politicians.

Mpisane’s company, Zikhulise Cleaning, Maintenance and Transport, of which she is sole director, is also listed in a forensic report on alleged financial irregularities and tender fraud within the municipality.

The company has received more than R300-million in housing contracts from the city over the past five years – excluding the one for R176-million – while Mpisane is facing 172 new tax-related charges.

And, despite probes into Mpisane and her company by the municipality, the provincial housing department and the SA Revenue Service, in September last year the municipality gave her the contract to build and complete 2114 low-cost homes in Umlazi, south of Durban.

Normal tender procedures were not followed and the city suspended the contract after being advised to do so by its legal department.

The Sunday Times has established that Mpisane instructed her lawyers to force the municipality to reverse its decision.

In a letter dated December 6 2011 from lawyer Themba Mjoli, the municipality was given a 24-hour deadline to reverse its decision. “Unless you do so immediately … our instructions are to seek appropriate relief from the high court on an urgent basis,” he wrote.

This week Mjoli declined to comment, saying he had just returned from holiday and was unaware if the city had responded. Municipal spokesman Thabo Mofokeng failed to answer questions forwarded to him.

According to municipal documents, Mpisane’s company was hand-picked for the tender by the city’s bid adjudication committee in September last year – despite it being tarnished by claims of poor workmanship in several of its projects.

Documents seen by the Sunday Times show that the committee used Section 36 of the procurement policy to bypass the normal public tender route.

However, a month later the municipality’s legal department objected and, on two separate occasions, warned the committee to reverse its decision.

In two scathing letters, legal advisers questioned the selection of Mpisane’s company, saying she had been convicted of VAT fraud in 2005.

At the time, the company was fined R15000 and Mpisane received a three-year jail term suspended for five years.

The advisers also said the Close Corporations Act prohibited Mpisane from owning a business because of her conviction and sentence.

“The amount of public money involved is such that the [committee] is obliged to follow the public tender process, so that council can get value for money,” it said.

Housing head Cogi Pather wrote to Mpisane on December 2 explaining their decision to suspend the contract. Mjoli responded: “You are undoubtedly aware that the impugned decision was taken and made arbitrarily and capriciously.”

The lawyer attacked the municipality for ignoring the cost to Zikhulise of paying “1000 employees” and “18 subcontractors”.

“On a more serious note, the community, which is currently awaiting being accommodated before the builder’s shutdown, is likely to be seriously angered by your impugned decision.”

Mjoli also questioned the applicability of the Close Corporations Act in view of the fact that Mpisane’s sentence had been suspended.

Council minutes show that the tender in question was simply reconfigured from an old deal in 2006 for the construction of 3100 homes in Umlazi.

The Mpisanes were then appointed as the main contractors but, after the auditor-general denounced the deal as highly irregular two years ago, work came to a halt.

But early last year the provincial human settlements department approved the new, re-jigged contract to finish the work.

In 2010 forensic auditors Ngubane & Co recommended an investigation into Zikhulise and 34 other contractors.

Two years ago, the Special Investigating Unit also began a probe of payments linked to a R37-million housing project in Durban’s Lamontville township involving Mpisane.

The DA’s Tex Collins, who has cried foul over the municipality’s procurement practices for years, said: “Clearly all is not well … any such work [Mpisane’s company is involved in] should be stopped immediately for investigation.”

Mpisane and her husband, meanwhile, spent an estimated R1-million on an Egyptian-themed seventh wedding anniversary in March last year.

Guests included socialite Khanyi Mbau, Khulubuse Zuma and May Mkhize, wife of KwaZulu-Natal premier Zweli Mkhize.