Tshwane Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise faces fraud charges amid conflict of interest allegations

The DA in Tshwane has expressed its intention to file criminal fraud charges against Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise, citing allegations of his involvement in business dealings with the municipality. 

The party’s statement follows a forensic investigation that reportedly implicated Modise in a conflict‑of‑interest concerning a security company called Triotic Protection Services linked to him.

DA caucus chief whip Jacqui Uys said during Thursday’s tense ordinary council sitting at Tshwane House, the report, slated for debate behind closed doors, is filled with numerous discrepancies.

Uys pointed out that the report presented to the council showed discrepancies between the actual findings of the city‑commissioned investigation into possible ethical breaches involving Modise and Triotic Protection Services.

DA mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink posted on X, saying: “The Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise is implicated in doing business with the city and now key reports may be hidden from residents. Even though (the) council tries to hide the reports behind confidentiality, we will lay criminal charges for fraud. Residents deserve transparency.”

According to recent media reports, Tshwane's internal investigation has found that Modise might have flouted council regulations by failing to divulge and divest his interest in the security company.

Brink said: “The code of conduct for councillors is clear, that if you are a councillor you can not benefit from a contract with a municipality. In fact you are obliged to declare your business interest once you are elected as a councillor and then to divest them. It is all the worst for this guy being the deputy mayor and the councillor in charge of the finance portfolio. Pressure brought by the DA has forced the Speaker of council (Mncedi Ndzwanana) to table the report.” 

He criticised Ndzwanana for labelling the report as confidential, saying that reports on councillors’ codes of conduct are meant to be public.

“The next move we will announce in council is that we are definitely preparing a criminal case of fraud,” Brink said.

Modise has been under fire from the DA after it emerged that a company linked to him was doing business with the municipality.

In his defence, Modise previously maintained that the company in question secured the tender in 2016/17, years before he became a councillor in 2023.

Modise, who also serves as member of the mayoral committee for Finance, said he resigned from Triotic, a company owned by his mother, Nelly Modise, and directed by Neo Mafodi, allegedly the mother of his child. 

In September, Ndzwanana confirmed that his office received an investigative report alleging Modise failed to disclose his interest in the security firm. He, however, said the report will be presented to the council for consideration once a legal opinion has been obtained.

The report was submitted to the council a month after the DA’s motion of no confidence in Modise was disallowed on technical grounds.

During a failed bid to table a motion against Modise, Uys said: “In terms of the Code of Conduct for councillors in the Municipal Systems Act, councillors cannot benefit from contracts with the municipality. If this rule is important for councillors, it is critical for a Finance MMC, the councillor with executive responsibility for the supply chain management division of the municipality.”

In June, the municipality extended the contracts of Triotic and other security companies without following a competitive bidding process, resulting in R170 million in irregular expenditure.

Last month, Modise branded the DA a party of “racists who can’t accept that the current government is led by Africans”. 

Regarding the Triotic contract, he said: “I have stated at the onset that the contract was awarded long before I became a councillor, not even deputy mayor, and it was awarded through a court and was in compliance with the city's requirements.”

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za