{"id":535107,"date":"2024-05-06T08:01:46","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T06:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=535107"},"modified":"2024-05-06T08:02:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T06:02:53","slug":"minister-linked-to-eoh-corruption-in-the-firing-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/enterprise\/535107-minister-linked-to-eoh-corruption-in-the-firing-line.html","title":{"rendered":"Minister linked to EOH corruption in the firing line"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa is reportedly in the National Prosecuting Authority\u2019s (NPA\u2019s) crosshairs for his links to corrupt deals at EOH.<\/p>\n<p>Testimony at the Zondo Commission in 2021 stated that Kodwa received R2 million in payments and luxury accommodation from EOH while bidding for government tenders.<\/p>\n<p>Steven Powell, MD of ENSafrica\u2019s forensics department, implicated Kodwa in dubious payments from former EOH Mthombo executive Jehan Mackay.<\/p>\n<p>These payments include a R1 million \u201cloan\u201d that Kodwa received from Mackay. He used the money to buy an R890,000 Jeep. He never paid back the money.<\/p>\n<p>Powell said Kodwa was also paid R45,000 by EOH a day before Mackay asked him to intervene in a Home Affairs tender from which EOH was disqualified.<\/p>\n<p>It was a particularly lucrative tender, and Mackay\u2019s communication with Kodwa following the deposit looked like a plea.<\/p>\n<p>Not only did large payments into Kodwa\u2019s accounts link him to potential corrupt deals \u2014 EOH also paid for exclusive accommodation in Cape Town.<\/p>\n<p>The accommodation was always ultra-luxurious and very expensive. All the apartments are in exclusive areas, like Fresnaye, Camps Bay, and Clifton.<\/p>\n<p>The apartments where Kodwa stayed and the prices paid by EOH for this accommodation were as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>R150,000 for a 3-day stay at 53 Ave Fresnaye in Cape Town.<\/li>\n<li>R100,000 for a 2-day stay at The Pentagon Villa in Clifton.<\/li>\n<li>R230,000 for a 2-week stay at the Barbados Rental Villas in Cape Town.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Powell said Kodwa particularly liked The Pentagon Villa in Clifton and returned for a 3-day stay, which cost R150,000. He also requested the services of a private chef, which cost R11,700.<\/p>\n<p>Kodwa admitted to receiving payments and luxury accommodation from EOH\u2019s Mackay but denied it was linked to influencing tenders.<\/p>\n<p>He also denied ever receiving requests from Mackay to influence how the state spent its money, as Powell alleged.<\/p>\n<p>Kodwa said he was not guilty of corruption. \u201cI have never engaged in corruption or facilitated corruption in my relationship with Mackay or any other person,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"my-4\">Zizi Kodwa in the firing line<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_506724\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Zizi-Kodwa-.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-506724\" class=\"size-full wp-image-506724\" src=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Zizi-Kodwa-.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Zizi-Kodwa-.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Zizi-Kodwa--600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Zizi-Kodwa--800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Zizi-Kodwa--768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-506724\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zizi Kodwa, Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Despite Kodwa\u2019s denial that he did anything wrong, the NPA is reportedly preparing to charge him with corruption and money laundering.<\/p>\n<p>The Mail &amp; Guardian <a href=\"https:\/\/mg.co.za\/politics\/2024-05-03-zizi-kodwa-faces-r1-6m-bribe-charges\/\"><strong>reported<\/strong><\/a> that the NPA is \u201cfine-tuning\u201d Kodwa\u2019s charge sheet before National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi authorise the minister\u2019s prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>Citing NPA insiders, it reported that the case against Kodwa is strong and seen as low-hanging fruit because emails point to him influencing lucrative tenders.<\/p>\n<p>These emails allegedly show how Kodwa was involved in influencing contracts to be awarded to EOH while he was an ANC NEC member and the party\u2019s spokesperson.<\/p>\n<p>If Kodwa is indeed charged with corruption and money laundering, it can devastate his political career.<\/p>\n<p>Former ANC Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said the party\u2019s \u201crules may be triggered\u201d if Kodwa is charged.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are clear guidelines and rules in the ANC. The step-aside rule says if you formally get charged, you have to step aside from whatever positions you occupy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, if the NPA is building a case against Minister Zizi Kodwa, we wait and see because we cannot be privy to that information and what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The high-profile minister has allegedly received bribes and other favours from an EOH executive in exchange for influencing lucrative IT tenders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":469825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57364],"tags":[6428,35,67824,23691,94025,67842,25905],"class_list":["post-535107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-enterprise","tag-eoh","tag-headline","tag-jehan-mackay","tag-national-prosecuting-authority-npa","tag-shamila-batohi","tag-steven-powell","tag-zizi-kodwa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535107"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":535171,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535107\/revisions\/535171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}