Pieter-Louis Myburgh - Gangster State: Unravelling Ace Magashule’s Web of Capture

One Friday evening in mid- 2013 my cellphone rang just as I was about to put a few takeaway pizzas in my car. I had been working at a Sunday newspaper in Johannesburg and it was not unusual to get work-related calls over the weekend. Not recognising the number flashing on my phones screen, I hesitated. It had been a long week and I was looking forward to enjoying hot pizza and a few beers with friends. But curious journalists rarely ignore phone calls, so I answered. The person on the other end of the line introduced himself as Ace Magashule, the premier of the Free State.

My first thought was that someone was playing a prank on me, but I soon realised it was indeed him. At the time, I was researching a tender awarded to a Bloemfontein-based company for organising the annual South African Sport Awards. The companys owner was said to be closely connected to top government leaders and had apparently clinched the contract in an irregular manner. While Magashule and his provincial government did not feature in the story, I may have sent out queries to officials regarding the companys work in the Free State. Magashule had somehow got word of my interest in the contractor and had decided to give me a call. I dont recall verbatim what was said, but he tried to convince me that his administration and the company in question had nothing to hide.

The call was strange, to say the least. Top-level government leaders do not normally contact young, relatively unknown journalists, at least not directly. I got the sense that Magashule was worried about what I might uncover. I also think he wanted me to know that he was aware that I was looking into the matter. I later learnt that, over the years, Magashule contacted other journalists in a similar fashion. To me, this conduct betrayed a degree of nervousness about the medias interest in his provinces affairs. His apparent habit of contacting reporters also carried a hint of subtle intimidation. At least one Free State journalist I spoke to claimed to have abandoned an investigation into a provincial tender after receiving such a call.

Magashule had every reason to be worried about nosy journalists. I believe the government deals unpacked in this book, along with previous revelations, sufficiently implicate him as the head of a well-organised state-capture network in his home province.

Compared to the most prominent tender bandits in national government, however, Magashules anxiety must have been considerably more manageable during his stint as premier. For a start, Jacob Zumas time in charge of the country saw governments law-enforcement arm become as ineffective as a gangrened limb. There was no need for the likes of Magashule to be concerned about being investigated or brought to book. Media outlets, civil society organisations and the general public, meanwhile, were largely focused on scandals involving Zuma, his state-capture enablers and rent-seeking at national departments and large state-owned companies such as Transnet and Eskom. Public-sector looters and their private-sector accomplices in provinces like the Free State were left to execute their schemes without drawing too much attention. While there have been great examples of investigative work on Magashule and his administration over the years, such reports have been too sporadic to produce the sustained outrage and pressure necessary to bring about meaningful change.

More than a few sources in the Free States political set-up referred to Magashule as Mr Ten Percent for allegedly demanding a per cent cut from each government contract in the province. During his nine-year run as premier, the Free States cumulative annual expenditure totalled over R billion. While it is unlikely that Mr Ten Percent skimmed off R billion, considering what I uncovered while writing this book I do believe substantial amounts of money ended up in his broader capture network. This includes his family, friends, former business associates and political allies.

Magashule had been extremely careful in his alleged dealings with contractors and other businesspeople, some of his former associates told me. Kickbacks due to him from government contracts would be paid in cash, they all alleged, ensuring that any financial links to dodgy contractors were kept to a minimum. Furthermore, Magashule apparently often used trusted security guards, drivers and other aides to do his dirty work. He also avoided electronic communication and preferred to discuss funny money and related matters in person. Some of my sources feared that if the Hawks and other law-enforcement bodies were to one day wake from their Zuma-induced slumber, they would have a difficult time finding any conclusive evidence of Magashules involvement in corrupt government deals.

But no one can erase their entire past. In April 2018 , while I was still working at New s , I looked into a R-million asbestos audit contract awarded by the Free States Department of Human Settlements. I linked the contract to Igo Mpambani, a high-flying tender mogul who had been gunned down in Sandton in 2017 . I stayed on Mpambanis trail and eventually got hold of a bulky stack of emails, bank records and related material that detailed some of the murdered businessmans dealings. For ease of reference, I refer to these documents as the IgoFiles. In order to protect my sources, I cannot divulge any information about how these documents came into my possession. It was my mini-#GuptaLeaks moment. Although not nearly as large as the dataset that laid bare the Gupta familys murky conduct, the IgoFiles were undoubtedly a valuable find when it came to linking Magashule to possible corruption. Premier requested that you pay full amount of R , reads a snippet of one email in the IgoFiles. Part VII fully unpacks the dubious asbestos audit contract and explains how Magashule may have received as much as R million from the deal.

In this book I examine the undemocratic means with which Magashule and his political allies clung to power in the Free State. I also unpack a fresh revelation about a trip to the former Gupta estate in Johannesburg, allegations of shady meetings with other connected businessmen, and indications that Jacob Zuma may have scored a thank-you fee from one of the Free States failed housing projects. All of these stories should strengthen calls for a proper investigation into Magashules dealings as premier.