Gangster State

Magashule was back at work in Bloemfontein on Monday 12 January,
according to his diary. On that Thursday, the second instalment of R 31
million from the FSHS arrived in the Blackhead–Diamond Hill joint
account. Mpambani transferred the entire amount to Diamond Hill’s
own account, from which he made several large payments for ‘loans’
and ‘consulting services’. He also moved just under R 9 million to 605
Consulting, citing ‘engineering services’ as the reason for the transfer.
From 605 Consulting’s account, Mpambani made further payments
that correlate with the damning ‘cost of business’ column in the ‘Free
State Asbestos’ Excel spreadsheet. On 20 January, he transferred R 1
million to El Jefe Consulting. According to company records, this
entity’s sole director is Jimmy Tau, the retired Kaizer Chiefs soccer star
who was allegedly cut in on the asbestos deal because of his proximity
to Nomvula Mokonyane. That the company was only registered in
February 2014 , shortly before Mpambani and Sodi began putting
together the deal, is suspicious. I got hold of Tau in November 2018 to
find out why his company received money from Mpambani. He asked
me to email him with my queries, which I duly did, but he hasn’t got
back to me.
After the second payment from the FSHS, Mpambani again travelled
to the Free State, where he withdrew large amounts of cash from ATMs
all over Bloemfontein and nearby towns. According to his diary,
Magashule had several engagements in Welkom and Sasolburg
between Monday 19 January and Friday 23 January. Records in the
IgoFiles show that Mpambani spent money from the 605 Consulting
account on food, liquor and other expenses in these two towns in the
same week.
On the Friday, Magashule was in Sasolburg for ‘various’ executive