Public Works, Roads, and Infrastructure MEC Tonny Rachoene.
Warped politicians have deployed hired guns to tarnish the image of Public Works, Roads, and Infrastructure MEC Tonny Rachoene because he refused to be remote controlled to milk the Limpopo state purse in the name of counterrevolutionary entitlement tendencies.
This was confirmed by senior ANC provincial executive members (PEC) who told The Azanian that Rachoene is targeted because he seen as the stumbling block protecting the Road Agency Limpopo (RAL) which was used as a cash cow. During the tenure of former Limpopo Premier Stan Mabathatha, the entity led by his crony Matome Ralibipi, as RAL board of directors had an over commitment of projects of about R355 million. Ralibipi is also an ally of controversial politician Danny Msiza who is also known as a political bishop and Mathabatha’s acquaintance.
The trio have been accused of orchestrating Rachoene’s downfall through the media and targeting Limpopo’s first female Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba’s administration in the name of entitlement tendencies. When pressed for comment both Mathabatha and Ralebipi refused to comment while Msiza opted to reduce the media inquiry to insults. The department of Public Works, Roads, and Infrastructure under Rachoene’s leadership did not spend R15 million on legal fees as it was reported in the media. The department has spent about R1,7 on legal fees to save the province from being controlled by the VBS brigades force of doom who want to control the state purse.
Rachoene expressed his disgust over RAL shenanigans which milked the state purse without accelerating and delivering on its mandate under Ralebipi’s tenure.
“As the shareholder of the roads implementing agency of the Department, RAL, I have used the opportunity of my first days in office, to look at the work done and related expenditures. It was a grave concern to me, to find that RAL had an over commitment of projects of about R355 million, which might even be underestimated," said MEC Rachoene of Dikgerekgere Wednesday Revolution.
"This could be a classic case of committing projects linked to budget that we do not necessarily have and the problem with this act is that it gives the public the impression that government, or this department has “stolen” monies meant for the upgrades of roads, thereby tarnishing the image of the province and its leadership. To this effect, we are in the process of setting up a new board for the purpose of taking the work done by RAL forward. We will be putting out an advert to recruit interested and reputable individuals to apply for consideration for appointment, as we work towards establishing a new board of directors for the entity.”
Earlier, ANC senior members who opted to remain anonymous confirmed to The Azanian that certain journalists are being used to execute their mission to depict a bad picture about Rachoene’s administration because he refused to be part of their corrupt faction which has an ambition to continue to advance their unorthodox selfish interests at Public Works, Roads, and Infrastructure and the RAL which was used as a cash cow.
They have called for President Cyril Ramaphosa who was exonerated for his Phalaphala gate saga for intervention because the current dynamics over Public Works, Roads, and Infrastructure and RAL might give birth to calamity which has already embarrassed the ANC in Limpopo because of the so called “ANC Limpopo Untouchable Mafias and VBS Brigades” which is terrorizing the new administration led first female Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba.
Mathabatha who supported disgraced former health minister Zweli Mkhize and his cronies have appointed RAL board of directors without following proper procedures.
Earlier, the Deputy Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development and former Limpopo Mathabatha of ambhubezi fame who disobeyed ANC provincial executive committee by not supporting President Ramaphosa has undermined the ANC leadership in Frans Mohlala again without any penitence.
Last year, Mathabatha ruffled ANC feathers by taking decisions alone with his faction who are bleeding the ruling party in the province. Mathabatha is disrespecting ANC provincial secretary in Limpopo Reuben Madadzhe because he refused to drink from the same political calabash with Mkhize who had an ambition of toppling President Ramaphosa.
In what has been labelled “our last time to eat”, bishop Mathabatha and his faction have been faulted for embarking on preparing themselves for the rainy days should their allies not return to power after the much anticipated provincial and national elections.
The directors were appointed less than 60 days before the national and provincial elections. Mathabatha and his associates did not deem necessary to wait for the new administration to make the appointment.
“Let me put it to you, what is the rush to appoint the board of directors with only a few days before the elections. This is what we call, our last time to eat before we lose power,” said sources.
Mathabatha’s administration and his clique, announced the new board and it was done by a fellow appointee instead of the executive authority. “I welcome the colleagues in joining the Roads Agency Limpopo Board of Directors. The Agency will benefit from the wealth of skills, knowledge and experience that they bring to continue the governance of the institution. The balance of skill and diversity are strengths and critical factors that I thank MEC Nkakareng Rakgoale for considering for the growth of the organisation and delivering on its important mandate,” said Ralebipi.
A crony of Mathabatha, the former MEC for Public works, Roads and Infrastructure Rakgoale was left with no choice but to adhere to Mathabatha’s instructions of appointing RAL board of directors through his protégé Ralebipi whose term has been questionably extended.
The Azanian can confirm that the law requires that directors must be nominated by the public and their names published in a government gazette before appointment, however in this case that wasn’t done, and proper procedures were not followed when appointing RAL directors.
According to law a term of the board is 3 years, former MEC Dickson Masemola appointed some directors for a third term however current MEC Rakgoale also appointed some directors for a third term and appointed them into their 4th term without providing reasons.
There are no specific reasons why these individuals are deemed irreplaceable despite the RAL challenges as the law prescribes that the board must consist of 8 members, but the RAL statement announces 9 directors.
The newly appointed members are; K. M. Ramakumba – independent non-executive director, R. P. Ragimana - independent non-executive director, R. T. Ramashia – audit and risk committee member, P. Makukule - audit and risk committee member and N. B. Mutheiwana - audit and risk committee member.
RAL also announced that the new members will be joining a capable team that has been instrumental to the stability and continued performance by RAL in building roads in the Limpopo province where the need for the service remains high amidst the limited resources; S. R. Moleko - independent non-executive director, T. M. Ramabulana - Independent Non-Executive Director, S. R. Mushwana - Independent Non-Executive Director, N. A Moloisi – ex-officio non-executive director representing department of public works, roads and infrastructure, M. J. Phukuntsi – ex-officio non-executive director representing Limpopo provincial treasury, G. M. Maluleke – ex-officio director in his capacity as RAL chief executive officer and T. Kekana – company secretary and chief legal counsel.
Meanwhile, earlier Mthabatha’s allies who had an ambition to succeed him were rejected by branches of the ANC in Limpopo therefore emperor Mathabatha’s castle was found naked.
They failed to make it into the ANC Limpopo top 20 candidate which was adopted by the Limpopo PEC.
Some ANC PEC members labelled Mathabatha a sell-out who is remote controlled by former President Jacob Zuma and his allies.
“This is the end of the sell-out. Mathabatha’s cronies destroyed the ANC in Limpopo,” said the ANC PEC member who opted to remain anonymous.
SACP PEC member said Mathabatha is a factory fault who failed to reprimand his political bishop Msiza, the former ANC provincial treasury.
SACP leaders labelled Mathabatha as an inconsistent sell-out pompous leader who failed to adhere to Limpopo ANC PEC mandate.
RAL under the leadership of MEC Rachoene has embarked on pursuing other interventions towards rebuilding the organisation and this includes conducting investigations of alleged maladministration activities.
This follows the dismissal of the RAL Chief Executive Officer Gabriel Maluleke who was appointed during the tenure of former Limpopo Premier Mathabatha and his pal Ralebipi, former chairperson of the RAL board of directors. RAL’s Accounting Authority Moses Tsedi briefed MEC Rachoene about RAL’s decision to dismiss Maluleke, with immediate effect after a disciplinary hearing found him guilty.
The termination of the employment of Maluleke follows his suspension on 30th of August 2024 after he was preferred with charges related to dishonesty, financial misconduct, negligence and the contravention of certain sections of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) among others. The disciplinary hearing was held on November, 20th, 2024 where its Chairperson found Maluleke guilty on all charges.
RAL appointed companies to construct roads despite the fact that the agency did not have the money to pay between the 2021/24 financial years. Such conduct gave birth to irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to R6.9 billion.
Reportedly Limpopo has a total of 21000 road networks and about 7000 of them are either paved or tarred, while 13000 are gravel.
Maluleke was dismissed despite that on 25 September, he filed an urgent application in the Polokwane High Court, challenging the legality of the board’s dissolution and his suspension. He claimed that his suspension violated the Limpopo Province Roads Agency Proprietary Limited and Provincial Roads Act.
MEC Rachoene welcomed the decision, saying that consequence management is one of the positive steps towards fixing Roads Agency Limpopo which overcommitted R1.3 billion on projects.
“We have committed to the people of Limpopo that the government of the seventh administration will deliver services to improve the economy and the lives of our people. I therefore support all efforts towards focusing on the mandate that the people gave us and not distractions from anyone who seeks to derail the goal of government,” said MEC Rachoene.
Meanwhile, ANC senior members who opted to remain anonymous confirmed to The Azanian that certain journalists are being used to execute their mission to depict a bad picture about Rachoene’s administration because he refused to be part of their corrupt faction which has an ambition to continue to advance their unorthodox selfish interests at Public Works, Roads, and Infrastructure Department and RAL which was used as a cash cow.
They also said Rachoene must not give up fighting the on-going political and legal battle to save Limpopo from selfish narcissistic ANC bullies. "He took the bulls by horns without fear. Rachoene must not be distracted by comrades Mathabatha, Msiza and their ally Ralebipi who are suffering from bullying and narcissism. Rachoene must not refrain from fighting the on-going political and legal battle to save Limpopo from selfish narcissistic ANC bullies,” ANC seniors said.
Another ANC senior member said:"Rachoene must be protected. We don't want to lose our comrades who are protecting our state purse. There's a need for serious introspections. We also ask President Ramaphosa's administration to protect state witnesses who took a decision to fight corruption. Sometimes people who speak truth to power get killed if they don't watch their backs."
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