‘I warned Gauteng officials about R16.9m school theft but nothing happened’ – whistleblower

A whistleblower who accused Gauteng government officials, consultants and contractors of allegedly siphoning R16.9m from a school construction project says he had warned the department more than a year ago.

However, his allegations were never properly investigated despite officials promising to involve their risk management unit, he said.

Nhlanhla Mkhize, the owner of Mkhize Gcwabe Properties (MGP), made the allegations in an affidavit lodged with the SAPS in connection with the R116m Semphato Secondary School project in Soshanguve.

His complaint centres on four alleged instances of theft totalling R16.9m, which he says were facilitated through payment certificates for work that did not exist.

The affidavit says the alleged theft involved payments for preliminaries, roof sheeting and trusses, paving, roads and parking, and masonry.

Mkhize says he first became suspicious after MGP was brought into the project in January 2024 to assist the original contractor, Yaweh 1 Construction and Projects, shortly before its termination.

At the first technical meeting, Mkhize says the project was presented as 55% complete, with expenditure of R48.4m. But his company’s assessment placed actual progress at 23.48%, with expenditure of R31.4m. The difference, according to the affidavit, was R16.9m.

“The claimed progress figure was vastly different from our own audit at feasibility stage.”

Mkhize says the discrepancy only became clearer as MGP examined the project’s payment certificates and physical progress.

He alleges that the department had paid for work that did not exist, including more than R6.1m for paving, roads and parking.

The affidavit says 71% of the budget for paving roads and parking had been paid between September 2021 and the end of 2022.

But when MGP arrived in 2024, Mkhize says there was no paving on site.

What was being measured and approved for quality when there was no single paving brick on site?—  Nhlanhla Mkhize, owner of Mkhize Gcwabe Properties

Mkhize says payment certificates were supposed to pass through several layers of scrutiny before money was released, including consultants, the construction project manager, the department’s project management team, management and finance.

He questions how the alleged payments could have been approved if the work was not physically present.

“What was being measured and approved for quality when there was no single paving brick on site?”

The affidavit further alleges that more than R4.1m was paid for roof sheeting and trusses despite the buildings allegedly not being ready to receive the roofs.

Mkhize says photographs taken in December 2023 showed about 90% of the buildings were still far from being ready for roofing.

He alleges that his company later had to spend more than R3.5m installing roofs itself.

But it was the alleged response from the department after he raised his concerns that has now become a central part of the story.

Mkhize says that after spending months examining the project and confronting consultants, he formally reported the allegations to the department on March 12 2025.

He says he had by then verified what he believed to be the facts behind the alleged irregular payments.

“By the 12th March 2025 I decided to officially report the matter with the department as I had verified all facts.”

According to Mkhize, attempts to contact the department’s DDG responsible for projects on the same day were unsuccessful. He says he later learnt that the DDG had left work and was going on three weeks’ leave.

The affidavit alleges that some of the people named in his complaint subsequently took lengthy periods of leave.

When the DDG returned, Mkhize says an online meeting was held on April 4 2025, attended by consultants and members of the department’s project team assigned to Semphato. The allegations were discussed, and those named were asked to respond.

Mkhize says he was also told that the department’s risk management unit would be brought into a follow-up meeting because of the criminal allegations.

He claims that only three people eventually responded to his allegations and that no follow-up meeting took place during the next year.

He further alleges that the DDG instructed some, or all, of those who received his report to delete it from their computers because he was allegedly concerned that the Auditor-General could investigate.

“Needless to say, there was no follow up meeting in the last 12 months, instead efforts to get me off the project intensified.”

Mkhize now alleges that the department’s failure to act after his report allowed attempts to conceal the alleged irregularities to continue.

The Gauteng department of infrastructure development has been asked whether it investigated the allegations, whether risk management became involved, whether any officials or consultants were disciplined or suspended, and whether the matter was referred to law enforcement or the Auditor-General.

The department of education has also been asked whether it was aware of the allegations and whether learners and the Soshanguve community have been affected by the project’s troubled history. Both departments had not responded to questions at the time of publication.

The Semphato project was valued at R116m, with R61.2m certified by March 5 2025, according to the affidavit.