The marital woes of former Cape Town human settlements MMC Malusi Booi spilt into the courtroom this week.
A Rolex watch worth about R700,000 which he “gifted” his ex-wife, Nomvuyo Mnyaka, on her birthday took centre stage in the R1bn housing tender fraud case.
This week, Booi, 47, and Mnyaka, 41, were detained alongside eight other suspects in connection with eight City of Cape Town housing tenders worth R1.24bn that were awarded to three companies.
The state claims the companies are linked to alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson. The prosecution told the Cape Town magistrate's court that Booi and his co-accused were part of Stanfield and Johnson’s criminal “enterprise” that ran in the city between 2019 and March 2023.
The former DA councillor is accused of receiving R4.5m “from his involvement”. The prosecution said Booi received R2.5m in cash and the rest was in gifts such as the Rolex watch.
Mnyaka is accused of receiving the Rolex and R20,000 for facilitating a meeting between Stanfield and Booi.
The state has seized the watch. It was a birthday gift from a husband to his wife
— Ben Mathewson, lawyer
But Mnyaka pulled out all the stops to distance herself from Booi — and even opened a sliver into their marriage. Her lawyer Ben Mathewson disputed the watch’s value. He said the watch was insured for R79,000.
“The state has seized the watch,” said Mathewson. “It was a birthday gift from a husband to his wife. The state’s case against the accused is not strong. Let’s say the issue of the watch falls away, you can’t prove racketeering.”
Mathewson said Mnyaka had obtained an interim interdict against Booi in 2022 which was settled with an “agreement”.
“There was a total separation already for a lengthy period between (Mnyaka and Booi). I don’t want to go into what happened in the family court. She did not receive a tender or anything.”
The former couple shared the dock with former City of Cape Town director of public housing Siphokazi September, 41, Abdul Kader, 41, Mohammad Amod, 37, Randal Mullins, 67, Breda Mullins, 65, Thuli Imgib, 39, Nomvuyo Mnyaka, 41, Lona Mdoda, 33, Siphokazi September, 41, and Suraya Manuel, 53.
Manuel is accused of helping companies linked to Stanfield and Johnson to apply for tenders in “collusion” and allegedly assisted in a company takeover.
The Mullins received tenders from the city and allegedly paid Booi R135,000 and Stanfield R600,000. Imgib allegedly signed a BEE certificate for Stanfield for R59,000. Mdoda’s bank account was allegedly used to launder R50,000 Stanfield paid to Booi.
The prosecution did not oppose bail but set amounts between R20,000 and R200,000. The court is set to rule on the bail applications on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Stanfield and Johnson are set to be joined in the tender case on October 16. The couple is awaiting trial behind bars for other crimes. They were arrested in 2023 in connection with the theft of a car.
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