Gangster State

Ramakatsa was going to challenge Magashule for the position of
provincial boss, with Matosa on his slate vying for the position of
secretary.^6 But the Regime Change group suffered a major blow when
Ramakatsa’s branch was barred from participating in the conference.^7
Ramakatsa later claimed that the second conference, which again re-
elected Magashule and his cohorts, was as riddled with irregularities as
the previous one.^8 But instead of mounting a fresh legal challenge,
Ramakatsa joined the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Matosa, for
his part, faded into political oblivion. As far as their companies were
concerned, someone behind the scenes ensured that the provincial
government’s money taps were closed to them for good. Makana
Women Construction and Clear Creek Trading received their last
payments from the FSHS in the 2012 / 13 financial year, according to
the HSS.
I had a chat with Matosa in late 2018. He said the RDP splurge
amounted to ‘fiscal dumping’, but that the companies targeted in
Mokhesi’s court application were ‘dolphins’ while the ‘sharks’ were let
off the hook. As for his own company, Matosa maintained that he was
only paid for work that he had completed and for which he had
submitted claims. ‘Clear Creek got a contract to build 200 houses in
Brandfort,’ he told me. ‘It rained heavily for about four months during
that time, so we could only finish about 100 houses before the contract
period lapsed. But we were only paid for the houses we completed.’
He felt that he had been targeted in the lawsuit for political reasons.
‘They tried to destroy me and Mbalula, through his wife, by listing us
in the court papers,’ he said.
The third significant person listed in the department’s court
application is Maggie Nthatisi, wife of Gregory Nthatisi, a former