From our editor: The truth about tender corruption and our collective amnesia

Ever since that fateful day, 6 July 2025, when KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi held a highly charged press briefing at the SAPS Provincial Headquarters in Durban, the country has been in a tailspin. What began as a police update has since snowballed into something much bigger, a national reckoning.

By Lebogang Mashala, editor at African Farming

In the wake of that briefing, Judge Madlanga’s Commission of Enquiry and a Parliamentary ad hoc committee were established to probe allegations of deep-rooted police corruption. Day after day, we watch jaw-dropping testimonies unfold as General Mkhwanazi and others lay bare the unholy alliance between drug cartels, corrupt officers and tender mafias.

But honestly, why are we so shocked?

We’ve always known that drugs are destroying our communities, especially our youth. We see it every day: young people reduced to shadows of themselves, zombified by addiction and often drawn into cycles of violent crime. And as for tenders, haven’t we known for years that the system is bleeding this country dry?

Just yesterday, the nation watched another dramatic raid, this time at the mansion of Hangwani Maumela, where police seized luxury cars and property worth millions. Maumela stands accused of looting over R2 billion from Tembisa Hospital, with reports now suggesting a similar scheme in the North West. He is allegedly linked to Vusi “Cat” Matlala, another key figure in the Tembisa looting syndicate.

The human cost of this greed is staggering. Lives have been lost at Tembisa Hospital, patients dying for lack of equipment, even food, while funds meant to save lives lined the pockets of criminals. Whistleblowers who dared to speak out also paid the ultimate price. Meanwhile, the perpetrators paraded their wealth, flaunting luxury cars and mansions bought with blood money.

Perhaps the most tragic part of all this is that many government officials, from junior clerks to senior executives, are allegedly complicit.

So again, I ask: Why do we pretend to be shocked?

This looting is not new. It is systemic, baked into the tender system itself. Every major public entity has its own syndicate, big or small, siphoning funds through inflated contracts, ghost suppliers and kickbacks. The same leaders who could reform this system are the ones who act the most outraged in front of the cameras.

Even the Economic Freedom Fighters have called for the scrapping of the tender system altogether, questioning the logic of outsourcing even the most basic services, like buying tissues, to middlemen instead of letting government departments handle their own procurement.

Also read: From our editor: Cut out the middleman and let farmers take responsibility

The Tembisa story reminds me of another, the AgriDelight scandal in the North West province. For years, AgriDelight practically ran the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, pocketing contracts for nearly every service imaginable. When the corruption was exposed, top politicians were named beneficiaries. But what happened to them? Dololo! Nothing.

The syndicate collapsed in name only; its operations merely rebranded and carried on as usual.

We’ve long questioned why the government insists on maintaining a system that costs so much, delivers so little and enables corruption at every turn. It’s particularly painful to see this play out in agriculture; a sector meant to empower small farmers and drive rural development.

Take, for example, the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP). Provincial departments recently invited farmers to apply for funding. A farmer may request R5 million to expand production, yet by the time the dust settles, only about R1.5 million is spent on actual farming. The rest? Swallowed by “service providers” and departmental insiders, particularly those in procurement.

But on paper, the department proudly reports that R5 million was “invested” in the farmer. The result is a cruel narrative: that black farmers fail even with government support. No one tells the truth – that the system is designed for them to fail while others enrich themselves.

Also read: Roadshow guides Xhariep farmers on CASP funding and FMD

And so, the cycle continues.

Until we have a decisive government that truly rejects corruption and puts its people first, the Tembisa Hospital saga will simply repeat itself; new faces, same game. After Maumela and Matlala fall, others will take their place, just as AgriDelight’s downfall paved the way for new syndicates.

We’ll rage again, demand justice again, and then, as always, move on.