Rufus Mphahlele, Defenders of the People councillor in Tshwane is accused of using his political power to help a businessman secure a tender in the city.
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Rufus Mphahlele, a Tshwane councillor for the Defenders of the People, has been accused of helping a businessman secure a city tender after allegedly donating over R300,000 to his political party for registration with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in 2021.
This follows a leaked audio clip in which a voice believed to be Mphahlele's, confesses to assisting a businessman—who donated over R300,000 to his party—in securing a tender in the City of Tshwane.
Mphahle labelled the allegations against him as "baseless and untruthful."
DA chief whip Dana Wannenburg said on Tuesday that his party has formally lodged a complaint with the office of the Speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana and City Manager Johann Mettler regarding Mphahlele’s alleged misconduct.
The DA also said it requested an investigation into Mphahlele, who serves as the Chairperson of the Section 79 Housing Committee.
Wannenburg said: “In a leaked voice recording, Councillor Mphahlele allegedly states that a businessman who donated over R300,000 to his party was later assisted in securing a city tender. He further claims to have fought for the awarding of the contract, with continued support expected in return."
In the audio, a voice believed to be Mphahlele's can be heard saying: "Now I was given a project, (and) I gave it to that businessman who gave us money at the time of registration with the IEC. He gave us more than R300,000. So I fought until they gave him a tender."
He stated that if verified Mphahlele’s admissions point to a deeply troubling abuse of public office, where municipal contracts are treated as political currency rather than instruments of service delivery.
Mphahlele said the DA made the allegations out of bitterness because he left the DA-led coalition while the DA was in power to join the multiparty coalition formed by ActionSA, the ANC, and the EFF.
“The allegations are baseless and untruthful because no one got a tender in my name,” he said.
He said the claims made against him were a “big lie and what they are talking about is manufactured”.
“There is no one who donated an amount of R300,000 to our party. Our party was only registered in 2021 for the local government election and it cost us R20,000 to register it. So, the R300,000 they are talking about, we don’t know about it,” he said.
He said the DA's claims were part of political games intended to tarnish his political party's name.
“There is no such. Even that clip I know nothing about,” he said, adding that he also denies the existence of the audio clip.
He challenged those making the allegations to check his personal bank account and his political party’s bank account to verify the allegations.
“They are bitter with my organisation because I left the DA-led coalition which was in place while the DA was still in power,” he said.
Spokesperson of the Speaker's office Mzwandile Khathi said Ndzwanana has not yet received any formal written request from the DA asking for an investigation into Mphahlele.
"Should such correspondence be received, it will be processed in accordance with the applicable legislative frameworks governing Council matters and the code of conduct for councillors," he said.
He, however, said that under the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), councillors are prohibited from participating in tender adjudication, procurement negotiations, or any administrative processes related to awarding municipal tenders.
"The Speaker is also not privy to information relating to alleged donations made to political parties or individuals, unless such matters are formally declared through prescribed legal or ethical disclosure processes," Khathi said.