Gangster State

Blackhead–Diamond Hill joint account. This was the fifth instalment
for the asbestos audit. That same day, Mpambani transferred over R 13
million to Blackhead Consulting. About six weeks later, on 18
September, Blackhead paid R 400 000 to an unknown account. The
transaction was marked ‘Parys farm’. The mention of Magashule’s
hometown naturally sparked my interest. By way of explanation, Sodi
told me he owned a farm near Parys. I later checked up on this. There
were no records at the Bloemfontein deeds office for a farm owned by
Sodi or any of his companies or related entities in that part of the
province. When I pointed this out to Sodi’s lawyers, they stated the
following: ‘The purchase of the farm is on an instalment sale basis with
transfer to take place on payment of the final instalment. The final
instalment has not yet been paid.’ I asked for the farm and portion
numbers to locate the property, but the lawyers ignored my request.
By allowing me to review Blackhead Consulting’s bank statements,
Sodi’s legal team hoped to convince me that the transaction records in
Mpambani’s ‘cost of business’ spreadsheet were incorrect. Their tactic
had the opposite effect. Blackhead made at least one payment that
correlated with the spreadsheet. Sodi’s lawyers then refused to indicate
who had been on the receiving end of this transaction. They also failed
to disclose details of some of the other payments I flagged, including
those made to ‘Zizi’. These outflows, along with the confirmed
donations to the ANC, only cemented my belief that the Free State’s
R 255 -million asbestos audit project was replete with political meddling
and possible corruption.