Ace Magashule Sons Awarded Covid-19 Tenders
Two companies owned by ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule’s sons have clinched Covid-19 contracts with a combined value of R2.7-million.
The contracts were awarded by the Free State provincial treasury after the MEC centralised the province’s procurement for Covid-19-related goods and services.
Magashule is the former Free State premier which gives rise to questions on how his sons were awarded the tenders.
The Free State’s latest tender bulletin, published on 17 July, contains the names of around 70 businesses that received contracts for Covid-19-related goods and services, with a combined value of R173-million.
The list includes the names of Motheko Projects and Marvel Deeds. Tshepiso Magashule, the ANC SG’s eldest son, is Motheko Project’s sole director, company records reveal.
Tshepiso’s younger brother, Thato, is listed as the sole director of Marvel Deeds.
According to the tender bulletin, Motheko Projects received a contract worth R2.29-million from the provincial treasury. Marvel Deeds’ contract is valued at R427,221.
It is not clear what goods or services the companies owned by the two Magashue brothers were contracted to deliver, but the tender bulletin confirms that these deals relate to government authorities’ ongoing fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The contracts awarded to Motheko Projects and Marvel Deeds were listed under contract number, “SCMQ 5 COVID 19 2020”.
“I have done nothing wrong. Please check with the Free State provincial treasury,” Tshepiso Magashule told Scorpio. He did not respond to queries regarding the type of goods or services his company was contracted to deliver in the Free State.
Thato Magashule did not respond to Scorpio‘s queries.
Ace Magashule told Scorpio that he was not aware that his sons’ companies had bid for, or won, the contracts. He also strongly denied that he had influenced the procurement process.
“I have got nothing to do with Free State government matters or tenders. I am out of that space,” said the ANC official.
Two sources familiar with the Free State’s political environment allege that Magashule and the provincial treasury’s MEC, Gadija Brown, are close.
However, Ace Magashule denied the allegations.
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