Central SA
Businessman to appear in court over R16m Emfuleni fleet tender─── ZENANDE MPAME 13:11 Fri, 04 Sep 2026
A businessman, 44, is expected to appear in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates’ Court on Monday (7/9) on charges of corruption, fraud and theft linked to an alleged R16m fleet tender at the Emfuleni municipality.
Mpho Malema was arrested by the Gauteng Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) at a mall in Pretoria on Thursday (3/9). The latest arrest is expected to shed further light on the municipality’s controversial vehicle tender, which involved the procurement of 18 vehicles, of which only seven were allegedly delivered.
Malema’s arrest follows the earlier arrest of former Emfuleni fleet manager Lerato Mpholo, who was apprehended by the PKTT in July in connection with the same investigation. Mpholo, 42, faces charges of fraud, corruption and theft, and has since been released on R25,000 bail.
The investigation into the R16m tender was initially linked to complaints made by murdered Emfuleni municipal accountant and whistleblower Martha Mani Rantsofu. Gauteng police previously confirmed Rantsofu reported several alleged irregularities to police in March, including concerns surrounding the procurement of the 18 municipal vehicles.
“The suspect was arrested at a mall in Pretoria following an investigation into the tender,” said police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe. “The supplier was contracted to deliver 18 vehicles, including municipal trucks, but only seven vehicles were delivered."
Malema’s arrest comes just a few hours after the PKTT arrested Janitha van Reenen, 25, the alleged mastermind behind the R9.9m fraud syndicate accused of defrauding Emfuleni’s electrical and revenue departments. Van Reenen was re-arrested shortly after being released on R10,000 bail in an unrelated matter on Thursday (3/9).
She joins seven other suspects who were previously arrested in connection with the alleged syndicate. They are David Senekal, 31, Caroline Maduna, 39, Kenneth Mahobe, 35, Hlawutelo Baloyi, 29, Pule Masilo, 36, Andries Maduna, 48, and Sibusiso Tshabalala, 46. The accused are Emfuleni officials and subcontractors working for the municipality.
DA mayoral candidate in Emfuleni Kingsol Chabalala, who blew the whistle on the alleged corruption through his role in the Gauteng legislature, welcomed the arrest.
“This is the very same tender scandal that slain whistleblower Martha Mani Rantsofu exposed. The arrest of yet another corruption-accused individual is exactly what Rantsofu’s loved ones, and the people of Emfuleni at large, deserve to see.”
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