Suspended City of Tshwane CFO Gareth Mnisi has been accused of involving Gauteng Organised Crime Unit officer Sergeant Fannie Nkosi in the city’s operational matters.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
WhatsApp chats between suspended City of Tshwane CFO Gareth Mnisi and suspended Gauteng Organised Crime Unit officer Sergeant Fannie Nkosi revealed that Mnisi involved Nkosi in the city’s operational matters.
This happened despite Mnisi suspecting that Nkosi intended for him to rig a R2.9 billion tender in favour of his brother’s company, Ngaphesheya Construction and Projects.
This emerged during Mnisi’s testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry where intense questioning focused on his constant use of Nkosi as a middleman between himself and suspended Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) deputy chief Umashi Dhlamini.
Mnisi has been accused of colluding with Nkosi and Dhlamini to influence the security tender in favour of Nkosi's brother.
He also came under fire for allowing Nkosi to participate in the tender payment dispute stemming from unpaid invoices of a company called Gubis 85 Solutions.
He told the commission that Nkosi inserted himself into the payment impasse between the city and Gubis after overhearing a conversation between Mnisi and the company director, Calvin Mahlangu, regarding the outstanding payments.
Nkosi recently testified that he volunteered to call Dhlamini regarding the payments for services rendered to the TMPD.
According to Nkosi, Mahlangu was demanding payment for outstanding invoices and threatening legal action against the city, which is why Nkosi wanted to assist.
Mnisi was questioned about involving Nkosi in city matters when Nkosi was not a municipal official.
He responded that in hindsight, he should have asked for direct contact with Dhlamini and liaised directly with him.
The commission also heard that Mnisi shared a termination letter with Nkosi regarding the ad hoc security services Gubis was rendering. He asked Nkosi to forward the letter to Dhlamini because he wanted to close the loophole on the Gubis issue.
During his recent testimony, TMPD Deputy Chief of Police for Asset Protection and Security Services Revo Spies testified that in June 2025, he wrote to Gubis instructing the company to stop the service effective July 1, citing a lack of approval for the services.
Gubis responded by sending him an approval letter for their deployment to the site, signed by a regional supervisor for the asset protection and security services.
Spies told the commission that Gubis received R59 million and was allocated 37 infrastructure sites, surpassing other service providers in both payment and site allocation.
Co-commissioner Advocate Sandile Khumalo pointed out to Mnisi that the letter he wanted Nkosi to send to Dhlamini originated from Spies. He asked Mnisi what was difficult about emailing Spies and Dhlamini to state that the issue from the past financial year should not arise again.
Khumalo expressed concern about Nkosi’s go-between role, saying: "The reason why I am mentioning this is because of everything Sergeant Nkosi has been doing. And everything he has been doing, which you conceded, is that by the third or fourth time, he looked like he was trying to influence a tender which was being evaluated."
On Monday, Mnisi testified that he suspected Nkosi wanted him to rig the tender in favour of his brother after he had repeatedly asked him to check for compliance of Ngaphesheya and El Shadai security companies. He told the commission that he could not check for companies' compliance as the tender had already closed.
Regarding his sharing of city information with Nkosi, he said: "I did concede that Sergeant Nkosi involved himself, first of all. Second of all, from my perspective, there was nothing completely sensitive or confidential within the payment process."
He said in terms of the termination letter, it had already gone out to the service provider.
Khumalo wanted to know from Mnisi why he disclosed information about Gubis to Nkosi while knowing that the company is a competitor of Nkosi’s brother's company.
"Why is Nkosi entitled to see what his brother's competitor is charging, because you said so yourself they are bidding for tenders in Mpumalanga," he said.
Khumalo challenged Mnisi's testimony that Nkosi stood to gain nothing by knowing details about Gubis, saying: "You must know that all this information is beneficial to Ngaphesheya."
Mnisi said: "I shared the termination letter, the only sensitive document which I believe is of no value to him... I did not share an invoice, payment dates, and a requisition with Sergeant Nkosi."
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za