By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has dismissed the recent reports circulating on the social media platform “X” that he is being investigated by law enforcement agencies.
This comes after reports emerged of a Hawks probe into a R28-million Cape Town mansion, a Public Protector investigation into his children’s government contracts, and a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe into a department where he was MEC significantly increased pressure on Mashatile to explain his lavish lifestyle.
Mashatile’s acting spokesperson Keith Khoza said, “We view these allegations for what they are: an attempt to tarnish the standing of the deputy president in the eyes of society.”
Khoza addressed some of the claims by the news reports, including the alleged cash purchase of a R28 million house in Cape Town in December 2023 and Mashatile being the owner of another property in Waterfall Estate, Johannesburg, also “bought for R37m cash through his sons who deal in tenders with departments in which he [was] the MEC.”
“Deputy President Mashatile owns no properties in Cape Town or anywhere else, other than the house he and his late wife bought through a bank loan in the Johannesburg suburb of Kelvin.”
“The deputy president has openly stated in public that he resides in a Waterfall property purchased jointly by his sons and his son in law Nceba Nonkwelo, again through normal bank loans, as a family property. He moved into the property because of its better security profile compared to his own house in Kelvin, and does not own the property himself,” Khoza said.
Mashatile has also refuted claims that his sons, Thabiso Mashatile and Tinyiko Mvelase, have secured tenders from government departments overseen by their father during his time in the Gauteng government.
He also denies reports that the Hawks are investigating the source of funds used by Nonkwelo to purchase the property in Constantia.
“The deputy president’s son-in-law Nceba Nonkwelo is a businessperson who comes from an established entrepreneurial family, which owns and operates its own independent enterprises. Nonkwelo’s primary business interests have never been in government tenders,” said Khoza.
Khoza said Mashatile rejects all of “these false claims”.
“The Deputy President wants to restate his confidence in the role and purpose of the state security and law enforcement authorities.”