Deputy President Paul Mashatile has denied any wrongdoing after questions were raised in Parliament about alleged links between him and beneficiaries of a major lottery tender.
Image: Parliament RSA
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has rejected questions from DA MP Baxolile Nodada in the National Assembly, which suggested that politically connected associates linked to him benefited from the R180 billion national lottery licence tender, saying it is “shameful” for such claims to be made by a fellow black man.
Mashatile made the remarks while responding to oral questions in Parliament.
The matter was first raised by Build One South Africa (BOSA) MP Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster.
She referenced Section 96 of the Constitution, which prohibits Cabinet members from exposing themselves to conflicts between their official responsibilities and private interests.
Hlazo-Webster referred to reports alleging that individuals linked to Mashatile have business ties to the company awarded the R180 billion national lottery licence.
She said there appeared to be “an increasingly interconnected network between politically connected individuals, lottery interests and business entities” linked to Mashatile.
Hlazo-Webster asked whether Mashatile, or anyone connected to his office, had any involvement, influence or interest in the tender process.
She also asked whether he would support a full investigation into the awarding of the licence “in line with nobody being above the rule of law and in line with Section 96 of the Constitution”.
In response, Mashatile said the process fell under the authority of Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau, who had delayed the appointment of the lottery operator in order to investigate the matter.
“So you don’t need another investigation,” Mashatile said.
“That investigation, if I’m correct, is probably about to be concluded. It’s almost a year. If you recall, the people were supposed to be appointed to this licence last year in June.
“We are almost in the new year, June. So for the previous year, there was an investigation.”
Mashatile defended his long-standing friendships with businesspeople, saying many of them had been his friends for decades before entering business.
“Some of them have been my friends for more than 20 or 30 years. When I went into politics, they went into business,” he said.
“So you are saying to me, please don’t see them anymore. Don’t associate with them because they are in business. Nobody is saying you are giving them business.”
Mashatile said he would not distance himself from friends simply because they had become successful businesspeople.
“Some of them were in jail with me, were in the struggle with me. They are in business today. I’m in politics. They remain my friends and they will remain my friends,” he said.
“But what I will not do is go to a department of government and say, ‘Give my friend the business.’ That I will not do because I’ve never done that.”
He added that the individuals mentioned in reports were “credible business people”.
“News24 did not say for once they are doing irregular business, anything illegal. They are just, ‘Oh no, they are friends of the DP.’ And so what? They are doing their own business. They remain my friends,” he said.
Mashatile insisted he would never interfere in procurement processes for the benefit of his associates.
“That I will not do. If you say I should not do that, I agree with you,” he said.
The controversy follows the awarding of the national lottery licence to Sizekhaya Holdings, which has links to Mashatile through some of its shareholders.
One of the alleged consortium’s shareholders is Bellamont Gaming, co-owned by Khumo Bogatsu - Mashatile’s sister-in-law - and KwaZulu-Natal businessman Moses Tembe, who chairs Sizekhaya.
Bogatsu is believed to be the twin sister of Mashatile’s wife, Humile Mashatile.
According to reports, Bellamont Gaming was registered in December 2023, nine months after Mashatile and his wife held lavish wedding celebrations attended by political and business elites.
The consortium registered Sizekhaya just days before the February 3 deadline last year to bid for the fourth national lottery licence.
Tau announced the awarding of the licence to Sizekhaya on May 28 after what he described as an “arduous exercise” to evaluate eight applications.
The National Lotteries Commission, which reports to Tau, has reportedly assisted in adjudicating the bids.
The outgoing operator, Ithuba Holdings, reported turnover of R7.28 billion in 2024.
Meanwhile, during a supplementary question, Nodada said nobody was suggesting Mashatile should abandon his friends.
However, argued that it was problematic that some of those associates had been accused of serious crimes.
“You must find it beneficial. And here are the facts,” Nodada said.
He claimed that an individual who won the multibillion-rand lotto contract had accompanied Mashatile to the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
“Don’t you find that fishy? For them to get that multibillion-rand tender, yet they accompanied you to the State of the Nation Address,” Nodada asked.
He also accused Mashatile of living in a R70 million mansion allegedly beyond the means of his son-in-law.
“Based on the above, I think the president should also take action against him, because you can’t have a deputy president who’s second in command open to crime and corruption with no ethics,” Nodada said.
Mashatile rejected the allegations, saying many of the people he invited to the State of the Nation Address were long-time friends.
“Some of them before they became business people, before they became wealthy, if they are. I don’t recall any of them doing any irregular business or being criminals,” he said.
“If they are criminals, they have been criminalised by Honourable Nodada. You are saying Mr Tembe is a criminal because he won a tender. I don’t know him to be a criminal, but if you think so, you can go to any nearest police station and open a case.”
Mashatile said anyone with evidence against him, his associates or even his children should report it to the police.
“Don’t have a problem when black people become wealthy because that’s what I sense,” he said.
“When black people become wealthy, oh yeah, they must have stolen somewhere.
“They must have gotten a tender somewhere irregularly. It’s even shameful if it’s said by a black man like yourself. I think we should respect the fact that black people do business.
“What have they stolen? My friends have not stolen anything and I’ll continue to invite them to Parliament,” he added.
simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za
IOL Politics