Macpherson orders CIDB probe into Morial gradings as SANRAL inquiry runs

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson has directed the Construction Industry Development Board to investigate how Morial Infrastructure Group obtained several CIDB gradings on the same day, and whether the company met the requirements for them.

The gradings are the state’s own gatekeeping tool. A contractor’s CIDB grading is what allows it to bid for public works above a certain value, so how a company is graded decides which state contracts it can win. Macpherson said further allegations suggest Morial may not have met the requirements for the gradings it holds, and that those gradings were then used to secure work from more than one sphere of government. He has asked the board to report back to him at the earliest opportunity.

The instruction follows a separate inquiry already under way at the South African National Roads Agency. Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has directed the SANRAL board to establish whether Morial was appointed in accordance with the law and whether it is complying with the terms of its contract. SANRAL has confirmed it will conduct that investigation.

How the company came under scrutiny

The scrutiny of Morial followed footage that circulated online of a confrontation at Vlamo restaurant at Sandton Gate, in which businessman Lawrence Chamurwa Mudzingayima is heard threatening women. In the video he is heard saying he would murder them and put a bullet in them, and claiming he was wealthy enough to buy the restaurant. The incident reportedly took place inside the restaurant’s ladies’ bathroom.

The restaurant has since stated that Mudzingayima is not affiliated with, employed by or associated with Vlamo, and that he was removed from the premises once management became aware of what had happened.

Vlamo has also confirmed that a formal case was opened with the South African Police Service. The restaurant said its team and the women affected reported the incident to SAPS at midday on September 19, 2026, and that a case number was issued. It said it is cooperating fully with the authorities and that the women will provide the information and footage needed to support the investigation.

What the state is now examining

The two ministerial instructions place the company’s public work under review on two separate tracks. The CIDB inquiry concerns the gradings themselves, meaning the same-day issuance and whether the underlying requirements were met. The SANRAL inquiry concerns a specific appointment, whether it was lawful and whether the contract terms are being honoured.

Neither body has published findings. Macpherson has asked for the CIDB’s report at the earliest opportunity, and SANRAL has confirmed it will investigate, which means the next dated step in this matter is the delivery of those findings to the two ministers.

The consequence for an ordinary reader is straightforward. CIDB gradings exist so that public money goes to contractors who can do the work, and the state’s procurement records are supposed to make that checkable. Where a grading is questioned, so is every tender awarded on the strength of it. That is the question the board has now been asked to answer.

No finding has been made against Morial Infrastructure Group, and the company has not been accused of any offence in the inquiries now under way. The police case arising from the restaurant incident is a separate matter and is being handled by SAPS.

Source: IOL, Macpherson orders probe into infrastructure firm linked to man who made violent threats to women in Sandton restaurant