Hawks pounce on Tourism Board and staff to down tools

Staff reporter

Bloemfontein – Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation also known as Hawks, have set their eyes on Free State Gambling Liquor and Tourism Authority ( FSGLTA) after a damning dossier was shared.

A dossier in possession of this publication was sent to DPCI and Joyce “Pretenders” Mathae, Free State Premier with corruption allegations against the board.

The FSGLTA board is led by Jack Tladi, a fraud convicted criminal whose board came to office in December 2024, few months after the chaotic ANC Provincial Conference and sources said no vetting was conducted prior.

According to the dossier, the following need to be investigated:

OFFICE BUILDING
A supposedly emergency occupation of a building with six months contract has now gone for over five years. The previous board resolved the lease will only be six months.

It’s alleged the institution pays R380 000 and the building owner gets R140 000.

The audited financial statements show the institution is spending lots of money on CCMA cases.

BOARD MEETINGS
The board meetings have depleted allocated budget and staff increases now used to pay board members. Board members are also part of subcommittees and with every meeting it’s pay day.

FRAUDULENT LICENSES
A liquor license was alleged issued without the board’s approval and both a whistleblower and manager Fraud, Risk and Security were targeted for reporting fraudulently issued liquor licenses.

Separately, a case of dereliction of duty against Kenny Dichabe, erstwhile CEO and Jack Tladi, chairperson of the board was registered with the Hawks.

In other news, employees have resolved to down tools on the 24 November 2025.

About 82% of FSGLTA budget goes to salaries and the board has just appointed one of their own as Company Secretary.

Warrant Officer, Fikiswa Matoti spokesperson for the Hawks confirmed the investigation.

“The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in the Free State confirms that there is an investigation related to FSGLTA.

At this stage, we are unable to provide further information as the investigation is still at an early stages.”

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