entertainers.
‘The concept was created to provide upwardly mobile and working
class individuals with the opportunity to enjoy the festive season in
grand style without spending a fortune,’ Mpambani told the Sowetan in
2010.^5 Nevertheless, Beach on the Track catered for those with thicker
wallets too. At the 2013 edition, socialites and celebrities such as
Kenny Kunene and Boity Thulo partied to the music of rap group
Teargas while the VIP crowd sipped on Moët champagne and
Belvedere vodka.^6
By this time, Mpambani had established himself as a fixture in the
Free State’s tender scene. He first got into business with fellow
Welkom local Sechaba Mogoera in around 2006 , and the duo soon
made headway in the highly politicised business environment.
Mpambani was made co-director of two of Mogoera’s companies –
Sechaba Group and Sechaba Solutions. Soon, both were clinching
construction tenders in and around Welkom. According to a source
who knew Mpambani and Mogoera, the two young businessmen
fostered or consolidated valuable political connections in the Free State
during this period.
One such connection was Mathabo Leeto, the then mayor of
Matjhabeng local municipality, which includes Welkom. According to
my sources, Leeto, who later became the Free State MEC for sport,
arts, culture and recreation under Magashule’s premiership, had a
long-standing relationship with Mpambani’s family. She was
apparently close to Mpambani’s mother, who for many years worked
as a nurse in Welkom. The two women also shared a background as
political activists during the struggle.
Incidentally, Leeto has had corruption charges and investigations
nora
(Nora)
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