Five of 11 members of the board of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone voted against the award of a R99.3-million contract to construction company Tshiamiso Trading 135. One of them says he was subsequently threatened. Archive photo supplied
- The Hawks say they are probing a complaint by a member of the board of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone that he has been threatened by a senior ANC leader in Limpopo.
- The board member was one of five who opposed the granting of a R99.3-million contract.
- The contractor has a long history of unfinished projects and disputed contracts in the province.
The Hawks are investigating a complaint by a member of the board of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) that he has been threatened by a Limpopo ANC leader after trying to block a construction contract.
On 29 May, the board of the MMSEZ voted six to five to give the go-ahead for a R99.3-million contract to a contractor with a long history of disputed government contracts and unfinished projects across Limpopo.
The company, Tshiamiso Trading 135 (Pty) Ltd, whose sole director is Hlamani Bruce Mohlaba, was previously awarded a R200-million MMSEZ roads and stormwater contract, which collapsed in 2025 when Tshiamiso left the site after having been paid R50.3-million. A roads project in the Makhado Municipality was also halted, and in 2019, the Polokwane High Court declared a R26-million award by the Greater Tzaneen Municipality invalid after Tshiamiso made errors in bid calculations.
But despite all this, the MMSEZ board decided to give the go-ahead to Tshiamiso for the R99.3-million construction of bulk sewer and wastewater treatment works.
Board member Sechaba Nkoana was one of five directors who opposed the award. In a formal letter of dissent, dated 1 June 2026 and addressed to the interim MMSEZ company secretary, Nkoana set out a detailed list of objections. Among them were the following:
- Tshiamiso had unilaterally abandoned its earlier contract;
- a Final Peer Review Account, dated 15 December 2025, accused the company of manipulating the arithmetic on payment certificates to inflate the amounts claimed;
- additional amounts paid to the company had not complied with procedural requirements; and
- Tshiamiso had released its own guarantee money held at ABSA Bank without MMSEZ’s authorisation.
He also refers to a ruling by Judge President M.J. Phatudi in the Greater Tzaneen Municipality roads matter, in which the court found that errors in Tshiamiso’s bid calculations had contributed to the municipality unlawfully awarding the tender, and to correspondence dated 25 September 2025, from the Director-General of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) to his Limpopo counterpart, warning of governance failures, flawed planning processes and possible irregular and ruthless expenditure at the MMSEZ.
Nkoana says that on the day he submitted his letter of dissent, he received a threatening telephone call from the ANC’s provincial secretary in Limpopo, Reuben Madadzhe.
Saying he feared for his safety, Nkoana laid a criminal complaint at the Polokwane Central Police Station, alleging intimidation and corruption, under case number 2/6/2026. He told Limpopo Mirror that he suspected corruption in the awarding of the tender and felt threatened and intimidated by Madadzhe’s actions.
In his complaint, Nkoana says Madadzhe accused him of telling the board that Madadzhe had pressured certain directors to award the stormwater contract to “his friend” – the contractor concerned. Nkoana says Madadzhe “threatened to fight me using his office”.
On 19 June, Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Wendy Nkabi confirmed that the matter had been reported and transferred to the Musina Serious Corruption Investigation Unit. She said the investigation relates to allegations of corruption, with the possibility of additional charges being added.
MMSEZ declines to comment
Detailed questions were sent to MMSEZ spokesperson Shavana Mushwana on 15 June about the technical, financial and legal grounds for the award, the due diligence conducted on Tshiamiso’s previous performance, and the R50.4 million already paid to the company, among other things.
On 17 June, Mushwana replied, merely stating: “MMSEZ does not discuss internal matters in the public domain.”
On 22 June, we wrote to ANC Limpopo provincial spokesperson Tonny Rachoene, asking if the ANC in Limpopo was aware of the investigation into Madadzhe; whether he had informed the party of it; whether the party had received any official communication regarding the matter; and whether the ANC intended to initiate any internal process in response.
We also asked the ANC to comment on Nkoana’s allegations, if the party had discussed this with Madadzhe, what he had said and whether the Hawks investigation would have any bearing on Madadzhe’s position as provincial secretary.
No response was received in spite of follow-up attempts on 23 June and 29 June, and calls to Rachoene and his personal assistant.
We also contacted Madadzhe for comment, but no response had been received by the time of publication.
A list of questions was also sent to Mohlaba, asking whether he would like to respond to the latest developments. No response had been received by the time of publication.
© 2026 GroundUp. This article is published under the GroundUp Republication Licence Version 1.0. Email [email protected] to request permission to republish.
Andries van Zyl
groundup.org.za
