Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
A Web of Deals, Messages and Money
The Madlanga Commission has pulled back the curtain on a deeply troubling network of alleged corruption linking the late taxi boss Jothan “Mswazi” Msibi, controversial businessman Ze Nxumalo, and former Ekurhuleni City Manager Imogen Mashazi — all centred on a multimillion-rand public transport tender and a jaw-dropping R3.5 million privately chartered trip to London. Evidence presented this week placed these three figures at the heart of what investigators describe as a calculated scheme to manipulate a major government contract in Ekurhuleni Municipality, one of South Africa’s most economically significant metros.
Chief evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson led the charge, presenting WhatsApp messages extracted directly from Msibi’s cellphone. Those messages, Chaskalson argued, reveal that Msibi — who died in January 2024 and has been identified by multiple witnesses as the alleged leader of the so-called Big Five Cartel — had flagged an Ekurhuleni contract for Nxumalo to pursue months before the tender was officially awarded. The contract in question involved the provision of a project management unit and technical services for Ekurhuleni’s integrated rapid public transport network — a critical infrastructure project with serious implications for how millions of commuters move across the city.
The Tender Trail: From WhatsApp to Award
The digital paper trail is striking in its detail. In June 2023, Nxumalo forwarded the tender advertisement directly to Msibi via WhatsApp, with a message that appeared to question whether the bid was already “spoken for” or awarded through a panel — a phrasing that raises immediate red flags about prior arrangements. Then, in September 2023, a figure identified as Steve Motsumi — a man investigators have placed at the centre of Msibi’s alleged criminal cartel — sent Msibi the personal contact details of Imogen Mashazi, who was still serving as Ekurhuleni’s city manager at the time. Two days after receiving those details, Msibi called Mashazi directly. The commission was careful to note that the content of that call remains unknown, but the timing — while the tender was still pending — is difficult to dismiss.
Nxumalo’s monitoring of the process did not stop there. By October 2023, he informed Msibi that the project management unit tender had been submitted to the Bid Evaluation Committee and that the relevant department had confirmed receipt. When the successful bidder was finally announced in November 2023, it was Camp Rock (Pty) Ltd — also referred to as Kamrock — the very company Msibi had identified and championed months earlier. Nxumalo submitted an affidavit to the commission denying the messages’ implications, but Chaskalson pressed forward, pointing to the outcome as deeply suggestive of insider influence. The commission also noted that the tobacco entrepreneur Adriano Mazzotti’s company featured in some of Msibi’s messages, alongside alleged plans to sell Grabber Technology abroad through Mazzotti’s firm Carnilinx.
The R3.5 Million London Trip: “Far Outside Ordinary Hospitality”
Perhaps the most explosive element of the week’s proceedings was the renewed scrutiny of a luxury trip to London. In July 2022, Mashazi — then serving as Ekurhuleni’s city manager — boarded a privately chartered aircraft bound for London for what she has described as a “private social engagement.” She was joined by her husband and two friends for a three-day shopping weekend. The flight was chartered by ZIG Revenue Management, one of Nxumalo’s companies, at a cost of R3.5 million. An invoice presented before the commission confirms the payment.
Evidence leader Adila Hassim laid out the commission’s concern plainly and forcefully: “A payment of R3.5 million for a weekend flight is so far outside ordinary hospitality or a gift that it invites the inference that the person who paid for it expected something in return.” Hassim pressed the commission to consider what form of influence, protection, or access Nxumalo may have expected from Mashazi in her capacity as city manager — a position that gave her enormous power over municipal contracts and oversight. Investigators have not yet established whether Nxumalo himself ultimately funded the trip or whether the money originated elsewhere, and that question remains open.
What This Means for Accountability in South Africa
The Madlanga Commission’s findings cut to the heart of a governance crisis that young South Africans feel every single day — in crumbling public transport, in failed service delivery, in a system where public money is redirected to fund luxury weekends abroad rather than functional infrastructure. The alleged manipulation of an integrated rapid public transport tender is not an abstract scandal; it directly affects the millions of people who depend on affordable, reliable public transport across Ekurhuleni. Mashazi appeared before the commission to face allegations of severe corruption, abuse of power, and malfeasance within the city and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD).
As the commission continues its work, the key questions remain unanswered: What did Msibi and Mashazi discuss in that September 2023 phone call? What did Nxumalo expect in return for a R3.5 million flight? And how deep does the network go? The WhatsApp messages have already connected taxi bosses, businessmen, a senior intelligence official, and a city manager — a cast of characters whose alleged collaboration, if proven, would represent one of the most brazen examples of state capture at a municipal level in recent South African history. The commission is expected to continue hearing evidence in the coming weeks.
