occupants of some of these houses were literally in danger. One of the
completed houses collapsed in 2013 , and inspectors refused to accept a
further fourteen finished houses ‘due to poor mortar mix’.^22
Thutela Bogolo Trading Enterprise was also on the receiving end of
large RDP contracts. This is the company owned by Rachelle Els,
Magashule’s buddy from Parys. Thanks to her powerful friend, Els
seemingly established a small RDP empire. Thutela Bogolo earned
more than R 110 million from the FSHS between 2010 and 2017 ,
including R 35 million paid out during the department’s problematic
expenditure drive in 2010 , according to the HSS. Els claimed the
department’s records were incorrect and that her company had received
much less than that.
Department records suggest that many of Els’s construction contracts
came to her directly from Magashule by way of Operation Hlasela, the
premier’s controversial development programme. Of the more than 1
600 houses she was allocated to build in 2010 in the towns of
Kroonstad, Steynsrus, Oranjeville and Koppies, 510 were given to her
through Operation Hlasela.
By early 2013 , only 240 of the houses allocated to Thutela Bogolo
had been finished.^23 Els admitted that it had taken years to complete
some of her houses, but she blamed administrative and financial
problems at the FSHS for the delays. She was adamant that all of her
construction work had been of the highest quality.
As with other RDP contractors, there were rumours of an unusually
close bond between Magashule and Els.
The former premier’s official diary confirms that there was contact
between the two during his incumbency. For example, in August 2011
Els met with Magashule at his office in Bloemfontein. This was right in
nora
(Nora)
#1