Staff reporter
Bloemfontein – The Department of Community Safety, Roads and Transport has awarded a company with links to Patrick “The Butcher” Phuti a whopping R97 million tender.
COPA DEL REY TRADING formed a joint venture with Poloko and secured the R97 million tender.
DEL was paid R1 million by Phuti on 27 December 2023, according to financial statements in our possession.
A few months later, DEL REY was awarded a reseal tender worth R9 million by the same department, in what insiders claim were highly inflated prices.
A month after Joyce “Pretenders” Mathae became MEC for Community Safety, Roads and Transport, she allegedly threatened appointed service providers, demanding that they “plough back” or face termination — a move that service providers publicly criticised.
Subsequently, the contracts were terminated and new companies were appointed. However, the Hawks are currently investigating those companies.
A WhatsApp text purported to be conversation between Mathae and Phuti supports Phuti’s version of payments linked to Mathae.
While there is no direct evidence at this stage linking Mathae to these appointments, court papers do reference her name.
In court papers filed by the erstwhile Head of Department at Human Settlements, she mentions both Mathae and Saki Mokoena in relation to alleged improper conduct, including attempts to influence payments and the termination of contracts.
Both Mathae and Mokoena have not responded to Masemene’s claims.We believe what Masemene said about their involvement.
In other developments, the media liaison officer of MEC Mbalula, Walter Macala is reportedly interfering in matters that insiders say fall outside the scope of his responsibilities.
Sources allege he has been getting involved in logistics and Human Resources matters. We will return to this matter.
COPA DEL REY PTY Director did not respond to our questions.
Below are the questions, sent on the 12 August 2025, 7 months ago:
- Can you confirm if you formed a JV with Poloko for the R97 million project?
- How much did your company make in the fog spray work so far?
- How much work did your company compete for the R9 million payment?
- Its alleged your invoice was highly inflated, is this true?
- Has your company ever failed to compete at least one project?
- Your company also appears in the New Beginnings Project financial statement, how much in total has Phuti paid and for what job?
- Lastly, have you ever been asked to fix your tax papers by Roads officials after you submitted outdated tax documents?
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