Top Cape Town city officials who uncovered tender fraud worth R1bn believed to involve an alleged underworld boss and a former city housing MMC are under round-the-clock protection, with bodyguards and bulletproof vests.
Details of the tight security followed the arrest last week of seven suspects in the Table View area for possession of an AK-47 rifle and an Uzi semi-automatic firearm over a week ago. They were arrested near city manager Lungelo Mbandazoyo’s home.
This week, JP Smith, the city’s MMC for safety & security, said Mbandazayo had been under protection since the city started probing suspected tender corruption in its human settlements directorate.
Alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife, Nicole Johnson, are set to appear in the Cape Town magistrate’s court alongside the city’s former human settlements MMC, Malusi Booi, next month.
Smith told the Sunday Times that officials who blacklisted companies tied to Stanfield wear bulletproof vests and are accompanied by security teams as the city grapples with serious threats to their lives.
“We allocated very substantial security to the city manager right from the beginning of this," Smith said. "We have numerous officials involved with procurement and supply chain management who were part of the decisions to backlist a range of companies involved with Stanfield and his wife. Everybody involved in various decisions has been given additional protection to secure their safety.”
He said protection could not be curtailed, citing what happened to policeman Charl Kinnear.
Kinnear, who investigated high-profile cases, was gunned down outside his Bishop Lavis home in September 2020. Alleged underworld boss Nafiz Modack is on trial for his murder.
“The entire existential survival of our local government and the survival of government in general depends on us not flinching when faced with these extortionist syndicates and corrupt officials trying to compromise our systems,” said Smith.
“This means police escorts to and from home, bulletproof vests and the like. But it is ill-advised to speak about the details of the security.”
After last week's arrests in Table View, police said they had “foiled what is believed to be a retaliation attack after the attempts on the life of one of the seven suspects a week ago”.
However, the arrested men were later released.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed this week that “the case was not enrolled and was referred back to the police for further investigation”.
Provincial police spokesperson Sgt Wesley Twigg said “the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation. The charges were provisionally withdrawn.”
It is believed the suspects could not be directly linked to the firearms.
Stanfield and Johnson, who have been in prison since last year in connection with a car theft case, are set to be joined to the R1bn tender fraud case. The prosecution accuses Booi and his co-accused of being part of the couple’s criminal enterprise which allegedly ran in the city between 2019 and March 2023.
According to the state, Booi received R4.5m in cash and gifts, including a Rolex watch, to influence the awarding of tenders to companies linked to Stanfield and Johnson. One of Booi’s co-accused, Abdul Kader Davids — who was out on R250,000 bail — died in a hail of bullets in Beacon Valley in Mitchells Plain, two days after his release.
The City of Cape Town declined to comment.
“Decisions pertaining to security details and risk assessments for staff members are not for public consumption but are a confidential matter between police and the city’s VIP protection unit,” the city said.
Anroux Marais, Western Cape minister of police oversight and community safety, said: “Elements of these events are concerning, and will be taken up with the police. The only way to beat back crime in the Western Cape is if every partner in the battle functions optimally.”
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