The suspended Director of Asset Protection at the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD), Tshukudu Malatji, has accused his seniors of lying to the Madlanga Commission to conceal their own actions, or lack thereof, in tender manipulation, irregular security contracts, and mismanagement within the unit.
Malatji, who has been on suspension since 4 July 2025 and is accused of facilitating costly, unauthorised and irregular security deployments, appeared at the commission on Thursday (his second appearance). He told the inquiry that he could not possibly have done what he is accused of, at least not on his own or as the person who orchestrated it (the manipulation of tenders), as he is a junior and was never included in meetings that decided on the contracts in question. The metro’s Chief of Police, Yolande Faro, along with her deputy, Revo Spies, and others, told the commission that Malatji went out of his way to ensure that payments were made speedily to certain companies, particularly Gubis 85 Solutions (Pty) Ltd, owned by Calvin Mahlangu, who is believed to be a nephew of taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni, who has been linked, through WhatsApp chats, to controversial Police Sergeant Fannie Nkosi, who appears to have had significant influence on procurement in the Tshwane Metro Police Department. He said that, having been excluded from decision-making meetings, he merely implemented what he was instructed to do by his seniors.
“The Chief of Police was participating in those discussions — Mr Revo Spies; Mr Bolhuisen, part of the executive; Deputy Chief Dhlamini (Umashi), part of the executive; the CFO and the COO; and other representatives from the Department of Water and Sanitation. These senior officials in the city met to find ways and means through which they could obtain money to pay for these invoices, which include invoices for Gubis 85 in respect of services carried out as a result of instructions from the department in question.
“So what is particularly worrying to me is the fact that, whilst I was not participating in those processes, at the end of the day it looks as though everybody wants to pass the blame back to Director Malatji, especially the Chief of Police, Mr Spies, and Commissioner Bolhuisen.
“Their approach was to cancel, cancel. In the end, whatever I was appointed to do in the secret service, I was doing on their behalf. They are all responsible for my actions. But when it comes to this, it is becoming a worrying factor that everyone else wants to wash their hands of it, yet they were involved. This whole matter had a history long before January, February and March.
“And if one looks at the history, the director of the trust was, from the beginning, like all of them, not acting on my initiative. He was brought in at a point when the service provider was complaining. The very same superiors, the Chief of Police and others, all speak the same language. All of them are washing their hands of it, and they want to paint Director Malatji in a negative light, as if Director Malatji had any benefit to derive from these transactions,” he said, referring to himself in the third person.
While the commission agreed with Malatji that it is not enough for Police Chief Faro and her deputies to plead ignorance, he too had to account for his inaction, including facilitating payments even in instances where purchase orders had not yet been generated, which could have resulted in payments being made for services never rendered.