Staff reporter
Bloemfontein – The failure by Joyce “Pretenders” Mathae to take action against Zanele Sifuba over the controversial R3.6 million payment could amount to a violation of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) and have her criminally charged.
Section 34 of PRECCA places a legal duty on persons in positions of authority to report certain offences involving fraud, theft, corruption, or financial misconduct.
Failure to do so may itself constitute a criminal offence.
STEPUPSANEWS can confirm that Mathae was made aware of the alleged irregular payment involving BOM PTY LTD on the 5 February 2025.
A comprehensive report in our possession was sent to Mathae.
At the time the report was handed to her, R3.2 million had already been paid.
A further R400 000 was paid after the report had been submitted to the Premier towards end of March, weeks after she was given the report.
Had urgent action been taken when the matter was first raised, that additional payment may have been prevented.
Mathae’s inaction amount to defeating the ends of justice.
In correspondence dated 3 June 2025,, by Sydney Qoqimba of BOM PTY LTD, he sent SLAs to Lumka Siyoko, PA to Sifuba.
Siyoko then forwards the correspondence to Mario Sefo.
Sifuba then sends an email to Sefo saying she concurs.
BOM HAS SIFUBAS FINGER PRINTS
In a video recorded during a gala dinner, Sifuba stated that she had been introduced to BOM by a former Deputy Minister, and that the concept had been presented directly to her.
WATCH
According to Sifuba, the proposal impressed her because it included a skills development component.
WATCH
A Free State-based lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said public office bearers have a duty to report suspected criminal conduct.
“There is an obligation on a CEO, MEC or Premier, especially in matters involving financial crimes.”
When Dr Takisi Masiteng said Mathae was going to collapse governance in Free State way back in 2024, this is what he meant.
Mpho Sikisi had not responded to questions at the time of publication alerted from “noted”.
Questions sent included:
- Can you confirm whether the report was handed to the Premier?
- Has the Premier met with all parties involved?
- What action has the Premier taken?
- Has the Premier referred the matter to law enforcement agencies given the possible elements of fraud, corruption, or money laundering?
- If not, why not?
- Would it be unreasonable to conclude that the Premier may have breached Section 34 of PRECCA?
- Is the report being deliberately suppressed?
This is a developing story as the details of the report including all commutation will be made public.
We are at the East London magistrate court from 08h00. For updates please click the Facebook link below.
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All updates about the case will be in TikTok and Facebook only.
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