Probe Finds Gauteng Agency Pushed Loans to Paul Mashatile’s Son-in-Law, Stirring Fresh Scrutiny of Ties and Taxpayer Risk
A Gauteng state-backed fund advanced R7.2 million to a company owned by Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s son-in-law, and investigators later said the lendin...
A Gauteng state-backed fund advanced R7.2 million to a company owned by Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s son-in-law, and investigators later said the lending process showed signs of weak governance and poor judgment. The money went to Nonkwelo Investments Pty Ltd, controlled by Nceba Nonkwelo, between 2012 and 2017/18.
The findings have drawn fresh attention to Mashatile’s circle of associates, an issue that has dogged the deputy president for months. The latest report does not accuse Mashatile of wrongdoing, but it does flag the risk that public money was handled in a way that was “arbitrary”, “reckless” and not in the best interests of the Gauteng Partnership Fund.
Probe into the loans
According to the investigation by GMI Attorneys, three loans were advanced to Nonkwelo’s company over several years. The total paid out came to R7,246,126. The report said the Gauteng Partnership Fund’s decisions around the lending carried serious shortcomings.
Officials in Gauteng moved quickly to respond. Lebogang Maile, the provincial MEC for Human Settlements and Infrastructure Development, said the government had taken note of the report’s financial and legal implications, as well as the question of the fund’s institutional integrity. The fund sits under the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements.
The probe also sharpened criticism of how the agency operated at the time. One outlet described the entity as having bent over backwards to approve loans for Mashatile’s son-in-law. Another flagged the project as unviable.
Political pressure on Mashatile
The matter lands at a sensitive moment for Mashatile, one of the ANC’s most powerful figures and first in line to succeed President Cyril Ramaphosa. He has already faced intense scrutiny over his network of friends and associates, after reports linked him to a lavish lifestyle and expensive homes owned by benefactors.
Those reports have fed a broader debate inside South Africa about patronage, access and the blurred lines between political office and private advantage. Mashatile himself has said his life was under threat in the run-up to the ANC’s elective conference last year, and he told the Mail & Guardian he remained vigilant in his movements.
He said he had received reports that people wanted to attack him at home, though he said he could not prove it. The backdrop matters. So does the money.
For now, the investigation leaves one figure hanging over the fund’s lending record: R7,246,126.
