Inside Mashazi’s mysterious jet trip

The Sunday Times can today exclusively reveal who paid for disgraced Ekurhuleni city manager Imogen Mashazi’s R3.5m private jet trip to London in 2022.

Mashazi, whose appearance before the Madlanga Commission last December raised eyebrows because of her haughty and dismissive attitude towards commissioners, has acknowledged taking the three-day trip but has never disclosed the identity of the benefactor.

A Sunday Times investigation has established that XET Solutions bankrolled the trip. The company has raked in millions from at least five contracts awarded by the embattled metro during Mashazi’s tenure as city manager. Also aboard the jet were her husband, Bonginkosi Raymond Mashazi, and another couple.

The aviation company hired by Xet Solutions has since been approached by the Madlanga Commission about the controversial charter.

Onyx Aviation, a Lanseria Airport-based charter company, confirmed this.

“We are under engagement with the commission and, as a result, will have no further comment on any involved parties or details of this flight,” said Kieron Moore of Onyx Aviation.

A key player in chartering the jet was politically connected businessman Ze Nxumalo.

The founder and CEO of ZIG Holdings, a youth investment holding company, Nxumalo has served as an independent adviser to SA Taxi, South Africa’s largest financier of minibus taxis.

He is a politically connected operator and an influential powerbroker embedded in South Africa’s transport and power networks. His links run straight into the political elite: EFF leader Julius Malema has admitted knowing him, while testimony before the commission ties Nxumalo to powerful taxi bosses and figures allegedly connected to law-enforcement and organised-crime networks.

At the commission, Nxumalo featured at the centre of allegations that he leaned on police and inserted himself into criminal investigations. Evidence showed he was in direct contact with police officers; had access to an arrest warrant; and allegedly pushed for action against blogger Musa Khawula — including bankrolling elements of a planned arrest operation.

While ZIG Revenue Management paid Onyx for the charter, the ultimate source of the funds traces back to Xet Solutions.

An invoice obtained by the Sunday Times shows that on July 20, 2022, Onyx Aviation billed ZIG Revenue Management R3.35m for the flight.

Bank statements — also seen by the Sunday Times — reveal that on July 19, 2022, Xet Solutions deposited R5.75m into Zig Revenue Management’s account, using the reference “XET SOLUTIONS”. Four days later, Nxumalo’s company transferred R1.5m to Onyx Aviation with the reference “London trip”.

On July 26, Nxumalo transferred a further R1.5m to Onyx. He paid the remaining R350,000 to charter the Dassault Falcon 900EX on August 1, 2022.

The invoice shows the four flew from Lanseria Airport to Farnborough Airport outside London, via Accra in Ghana, on July 28, 2022. They returned three days later, on July 31.

Approached for comment, Nxumalo admitted he chartered a flight from Onyx Aviation for R3.35m. However, he said the flight was for a businessman called Ntokozo Xaba.

According to company registration records, Xaba became a director of Xet Solutions in January 2026 before stepping down last month. It is not immediately clear what his association with the company was back in July 2022.

“I was asked by Mr Ntokozo Xaba to assist in getting a better quote for a London flight ... I managed to get a quote — from my service provider and a company that I work with and act as a broker for, Onyx Aviation — for R3.9m, and eventually R3.35m, for the Falcon EX in question,” Nxumalo said in a written response to the Sunday Times’ questions.

“In the end, my company charged XET R5.75m, Vat inclusive, for the flight, which he paid, and my company paid the R3.35m to Onyx.”

Nxumalo said he later found out that Mashazi and her husband had travelled to London on the jet he had chartered for Xaba.

“I cannot remember exactly when I learnt that Mr Xaba was not going on the flight anymore, but it was definitely after I was paid and after I had paid Onyx.”

Nxumalo said he paid Onyx Aviation R3.35m and pocketed the rest as commission.

“Afterwards, I introduced Mr Xaba to my service provider (Onyx Aviation) and he used them often directly,” he said.

Xaba did not respond to questions sent on Friday night. Neither did Mashazi.

Ekurhuleni spokesperson Phakamile Mbengashe confirmed that Xet Solutions was still contracted to the metro.

“The additional information requested, including details relating to declarations, the number of contracts awarded to the company over the years, and the total value of payments made by the City, is still being sourced from the relevant departments,” she said.

Xet Solutions, formerly known as OneConnect Technologies SA, was registered in 2014 and provides a range of IT services. The company does not have a website.

It’s LinkedIn page describes it as a “leading business solutions provider that applies innovative technology and business expertise to enable organisations to realise extreme value”.

Further, that the company “is well positioned to deliver on the promise of innovation for excellence. XET’s value proposition is to partner with organisations and accelerate their digital transformation journey”.

It says its strategic partnership with global leaders in application infrastructure and business intelligence software gives XET access to a pool of expertise, “particularly in the financial services, energy and telco industries”.

The company’s sole director, Nelisiwe Xaba, said XET Solutions had, from time to time, chartered aircraft and other forms of transport for clients, business partners and stakeholders attending conferences, project visits and other business engagements.

She denied that the flight constituted gratification for Mashazi.

According to the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, gratification is a serious criminal offence.

“XET Solutions maintains a strict corporate governance and ethics policy that expressly prohibits the provision of gratification, inducements, or any form of undue benefit to public officials.

“The company is committed to conducting its business activities with the highest standards of integrity, transparency and compliance with all applicable laws and regulations,” she said.

According to Ekurhuleni’s procurement records, which are publicly available, the metro awarded Xet Solutions at least five contracts over the past seven years. All were awarded during Mashazi’s tenure as municipal manager, and all but one predated the London trip.

The values of those contracts are not publicly listed.

The Sunday Times was also unable to establish how much the metro has paid Xet Solutions for work performed under those contracts. However, a senior Ekurhuleni executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, estimated the total at “well into more than R100m”.

Xet Solutions has also benefited from contracts awarded by the Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Procurement records, published online, show that, over the past seven years, the company was awarded at least five contracts with a combined value of R170m.

Mashazi was first appointed municipal manager in December 2016, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She was reappointed in 2022 and reached retirement age in July last year, after which she was compelled by councillors to step down.

Evidence before the Madlanga Commission showed that, during Mashazi’s tenure, serious allegations of corruption, fraud and sexual misconduct within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) were effectively ignored.

Under oath, she admitted failing to act on a report by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) recommending action against senior officials and could not produce evidence to back explosive claims she herself had made.

Her testimony was riddled with evasive responses of “I don’t recall” and “no comment”, drawing sharp rebukes from commissioners who questioned both her credibility and seriousness.

Even more damning was her conduct: dismissive, combative and at times flippant in the face of grave allegations.

Yet while accountability slipped, Mashazi projected a life of excess, flaunting a taste for luxury watches and Hermès handbags worth hundreds of thousands of rand. Her own admissions about exclusively collecting high-end designer bags fuelled public outrage, highlighting the contrast between the failing oversight exposed before the commission and the opulence she appeared to enjoy.