The verbal wrestling between the suspended Tshwane municipality’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Gareth Mnisi and the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry continued on Tuesday.
Mnisi was relentless in his elaborate explanations to questions scrutinising his role in the awarding and cancellation of security tenders.
As chair of the city’s bid adjudications committee (BAC), Mnisi had access to sensitive documentation pertaining to tenders and the multitude of bidding entities.
The commissioners and evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson questioned Mnisi on document security, tender scoring and his sharing of city documents with Sergeant Fannie Nkosi.
Nkosi, whose brother owns one of the companies that had been bidding for the tenders in question, was in court on Monday and will know on Wednesday if his bail application has been successful.
Sharing competitor information
In the later hours of the day, the commission asked Mnisi about a letter he shared with Nkosi detailing the termination of a municipal service provider.
Mnisi stated that when he did so, he felt that it would be of no benefit to the sergeant, but commissioner Sandile Khumalo disagreed.
“So, this is another example of you involving Sergeant Nkosi in operational matters that have nothing to do with him?”, asked Khumalo.
After several exchanges, Mnisi accepted that it was inappropriate but explained that sending the letter felt part of the greater running discussion he had been having with Nkosi over the tenders.
“However, commissioner, he was already involved in this matter and this was closing the loop.
“When we are discussing it now, it does provide the perception that it is two separate events, but in my mind, this was closing the loop on the matter indefinitely,” said Mnisi.
Khumalo reminded the suspended city manager that the company involved in the termination was a competitor of Nkosi’s brother’s company and that the information could be used for personal gain.
The commissioners said they wished to obtain Mnisi’s employment contract with the municipality, as they were of the opinion that Mnisi was in breach of his confidentiality clause, to which Mnisi disagreed.
“From my perspective, there was nothing sensitive or confidential within the payment process. That entire process was general communications from me,” Mnisi responded.
Prima facie evidence of fraud
Earlier in the day, Chaskalson had been running Mnisi through the timelines related to the awarding of a security tender.
As had been the tone throughout Mnisi’s testimony, the witness was repeatedly reminded not to stray from the line of questioning being set by the evidence leader and the commissioners.
“Can I ask you to confine yourself to answering my questions? My question was, do you confirm that the BAC accepted that a document purporting to be minutes of 28 May 2025 recorded a recommendation for the tender?”
Mnisi agreed with that date before Chaskalson asked him to confirm that the scoring sheets for the tender were dated 29 May.
After accepting the second date, Mnisi brushed aside the sequence of the dates as an “anomaly” before Chaskalson’s follow-up.
“Mr Mnisi, if the recommendation was made on 28 May and the scoring on 29 May, you have a series of members of the BAC who are participating in a fraud, is that not right?
Mnisi said he could not comment before Chaskalson assured the witness that he could indeed comment, highlighting the dates and stating that the scoring was a “complete sham”.
“I would be making an assumption because I wouldn’t have known what would have happened in that instance.”
“I can’t answer that question, SC. If these individuals are committing fraud? It is very difficult for me to answer without having any corroborative evidence for me to rely on,” responded Mnisi.
Chaskalson noted the matter amounted to prima facie evidence of fraud, with commissioner Sesi Baloyi highlighting that as CFO, he had an obligation to investigate.
“Within our BAC, there is a variety of subject matter experts, including legal experts. In hindsight, the BAC should have made a recommendation of that nature,” acknowledged.
