Gangster State

‘consolidated payment’ in bank records for Blackhead–Diamond Hill’s
joint FNB account, meaning it is the sum of several payments.
According to bank statements in the IgoFiles, Mpambani transferred
almost R 13. 3 million to Mastertrade’s FNB account on 23 December,
exactly as listed in the spreadsheet. Despite the payment records,
Mastertrade’s director, Sello ‘Sydney’ Radebe, flatly denied that his
company had received the money. He also denied that he had in any
way participated in the asbestos project. Radebe’s behaviour only
fuelled my suspicions about the entire affair. Mastertrade’s company
records showed that it was operated from an office in Sandton, but I
established that Radebe hails from the eastern Free State. According to
his CV, Radebe grew up in Phuthaditjhaba, in QwaQwa. He worked at
the QwaQwa Development Corporation, which has since been
incorporated into the FDC. A source who worked with Mpambani told
me that Radebe was close to then Gauteng ANC chairperson Paul
Mashatile.
A noteworthy observation is that Mpambani was in Bloemfontein
when he effected these first payments. Records from the Grasmere toll
plaza south of Johannesburg and the Brandfort toll plaza near
Bloemfontein show that he passed through these points on 23
December. The following day, he withdrew a few thousand rands in
cash from an FNB ATM in Bloemfontein’s Brandwag suburb. This
ATM is located 2. 3 kilometres from Free State House, the official
residence of the premier. Records show that Mpambani frequently
withdrew money from this and other ATMs near Magashule’s
residence shortly before or after his company received a payment from
the FSHS. So often, in fact, that it became a pattern.
On 23 December, Mpambani moved R 3. 5 million from the joint