Makwetla in the dock over R350 000 Bosasa security bill at his home

Former Mpumalanga premier Thabang Makwetla appeared before the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Friday on corruption and fraud charges over roughly R350 000 that the government contractor Bosasa is alleged to have spent on security upgrades at his private residence.

His case was postponed to March 19, 2027, while a centralisation certificate is issued and a High Court trial date is arranged. Makwetla, who was arrested in October last year and released on R10 000 bail, is accused of receiving the security upgrades from Bosasa in 2015 and failing to declare the benefit to Parliament over four years.

Sunday World reported the appearance on 30 October.

“The former Deputy Minister of Correctional Services, Mr Thabang Makwetla appeared before the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on charges relating to the contravention of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) and fraud,” said Henry Mamothame, spokesperson for the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac).

Mamothame said the alleged failure to disclose the upgrades breached Makwetla’s obligations under Parliament’s Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interests. He said a review panel scrutinising Idac’s matters had assessed the case and found it was properly authorised and fell within the directorate’s mandate, and that all disclosures had been given to the accused to prepare for trial.

Makwetla governed Mpumalanga from 2004 to 2009 and was succeeded by David Mabuza. He later held several national executive posts, including deputy minister of justice and correctional services and deputy minister of defence and military veterans.

The charges carry the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture into a criminal court. The commission found that Bosasa, later renamed African Global Operations, built relationships with influential politicians and officials through cash payments, household improvements and security installations. In Makwetla’s case it established that Bosasa had provided security installations at his residence and found that he had breached his constitutional, legislative and ethical obligations.

“The evidence establishes a prima facie case of corruption in terms of sections 3 and 4 of PRECCA against him,” the commission found, and recommended the matter be referred to the relevant authorities for investigation and prosecution. It also raised questions about his discussions on rates under a Bosasa contract with the accounting officer of the Department of Correctional Services, while acknowledging that this aspect had not been fully explored in his testimony.

For a South African reader, the case sits in a long line of Bosasa matters at different stages. Former ANC MP Vincent Smith, who chaired Parliament’s portfolio committee on correctional services, was sentenced in March this year by the Johannesburg High Court to seven years’ direct imprisonment after pleading guilty to corruption, fraud, money laundering and tax offences, admitting he took benefits linked to Bosasa while overseeing the department. The National Director of Public Prosecutions, Andy Mothibi, said the wheels of justice had finally got in motion.

Bosasa whistleblower Angelo Agrizzi entered a plea and sentence agreement with prosecutors in November 2025, pleading guilty to three counts of corruption and one of money laundering and receiving a combined 40-year sentence wholly suspended for five years. The agreement requires him to cooperate with investigators and testify against others implicated in the scandal. Former correctional services commissioner Linda Mti and former senior official Patrick Gillingham have also faced criminal proceedings over Bosasa contracts.

Others named in the commission’s work have not been convicted of anything arising from it. Former minister and ANC deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane featured prominently in Agrizzi’s testimony, which alleged Bosasa paid her R50 000 a month, maintained her residences and financed private celebrations including her birthday party. She denied the allegations, but the commission made adverse findings on her relationship with the company and recommended further action.

Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe was implicated over security installations allegedly financed by Bosasa associates at three properties linked to him. He denied wrongdoing, saying the installations were not intended to influence him, and the commission recommended further investigation into whether the benefits amounted to corruption.

ANC parliamentary figure Cedric Frolick was accused of receiving payments and helping Bosasa reach influential parliamentary officials. He denied wrongdoing, and Parliament’s ethics committee cleared him in its own proceedings, partly because the alleged conduct predated the applicable ethics code. That outcome was not a criminal court finding. Former president Jacob Zuma and the late former South African Airways board chairperson Dudu Myeni were also implicated in evidence on Bosasa’s political relationships and alleged attempts to interfere with investigations.

Bosasa’s former chief executive Gavin Watson, identified as a central figure in the alleged corruption network, died in a vehicle crash in 2019 before the commission finished its work. The company held billions of rands in government contracts, particularly from correctional services.

Separately, suspended Pretoria chief magistrate Desmond Nair pleaded not guilty this week as his corruption trial began over alleged Bosasa-funded security upgrades worth about R200 000. Those allegations remain before the court.

Makwetla’s next appearance will settle the procedural arrangements for his High Court trial. He has not been convicted of any charge.