R1.6 billion later, Telkom Towers HQ still partially occupied: Vuma exposes mismanagement

Former SAPS deputy national commissioner Lieutenant-General Francinah Vuma has alleged that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure repeatedly requested additional funds to prepare the Telkom Towers police headquarters in Tshwane, with the costs rising to R1.6 billion.

Vuma made the claim while appearing before Parliament’s ad hoc committee on Wednesday.

The committee is investigating explosive allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi during a bombshell media briefing in July 2025.

Vuma, who was suspended in 2022 and retired in January 2026, previously served as deputy national commissioner for support services and later for asset and legal management.

She told the committee that the allegations formed part of a protected disclosure document she submitted to President Cyril Ramaphosa, in which she detailed alleged interference by former Police Minister Bheki Cele and national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola.

According to Vuma, the events in question date back to July 2022.

Ramaphosa announced Masemola as South Africa’s national police commissioner in March 2022, following the departure of General Khehla Sitole after nearly five years in office. 

Sitole’s tenure, from November 2017 to March 2022, was marred by internal infighting and scandals within the SAPS.

Sitole had appointed Vuma in 2017 as deputy national commissioner of management advisory services.

Vuma told the committee that one of her first protected disclosures concerned the controversial Telkom Towers Complex in Tshwane.

The complex was purchased in 2016 for nearly R695 million to serve as the SAPS headquarters in Pretoria. 

However, the building was evacuated in February 2024 and has remained vacant since.

She said that when she was appointed deputy national commissioner responsible for asset and legal management, she requested a full briefing from the supply chain management division on the status of the building.

Part of the briefing related to Telkom Towers, which had been purchased through the Department of Public Works.

“In December 2017, when the national commissioner (referring to Sithole) was still in new to the position, he also wanted to know what had happened to the building since it was purchased in 2015,” Vuma said.

“According to the plans, by 2016 SAPS should have already started occupying the building.”

She said the delay created financial strain because SAPS continued leasing multiple office buildings for head office divisions while the newly purchased headquarters remained unused.

“The main objective of purchasing Telkom Towers was to alleviate the lease portfolio,” she said.

During the briefing, Vuma said she discovered that additional funds were being requested by Public Works beyond the original purchase price.

She said SAPS had already spent money installing IT infrastructure, including cables, to prepare the building for occupation.

The purchase price was R695 million, she told the committee.

She said in addition, about R41 million was paid when Telkom bought back one of the buildings, which it regarded as a national key point.

According to the retired top cop, Public Works had initially agreed to carry out minor repairs - including fixing lifts and air conditioning systems - using its own budget.

However, Vuma said the department later began requesting additional funds from SAPS for these upgrades.

She said that during a meeting in December, Public Works requested R10 million to prepare one tower for occupation by the national commissioner by April 1.

However, she said by April the building was still not ready.

“They never communicated to the national commissioner that the building was not ready,” she said.

SAPS officials eventually occupied parts of the building in May, but Vuma said only a limited portion of the work had been completed.

She told the committee that the R10 million had been used for renovations on two floors for bathrooms and three floors that were eventually occupied.

“But those floors were very small, and not many people were accommodated there,” she said.

Vuma said despite this, Public Works later issued a certificate stating that the building was not ready for occupation.

She said Public Works subsequently requested an additional R95 million, which increased to about R105 million after tax, to make the building usable.

Later, a further R460 million was requested to make parts of the complex ready for occupation.

She said these escalating requests raised serious concerns.

“In total, these amounts went up to about R1.6 billion,” Vuma told the committee.

Vuma said as a result, she instructed supply chain management to compile a full report detailing the procurement process, the initial proposal from Public Works and the amount already spent on the building.

The report was meant to brief Cele on the challenges SAPS was experiencing with Public Works.

However, evidence leader Advocate Bongiwe Mkhize, who was leading the evidence, pointed out that the information note presented to the committee was unsigned, despite having space for two signatures: one from the divisional commissioner for supply chain management, Mkhwanazi, and another from Vuma.

Mkhwanazi was the divisional commissioner for supply chain management at that time.

Mkhize asked what the committee should make of the document’s lack of signatures.

Vuma said the version she obtained was likely incomplete.

“The signed documents are supposed to be in the archives of the South African Police Service,” she said.

“I requested this document from the supply chain, and I thought they would give me a signed copy.”

She said the original document included comments from the police minister and the national commissioner.

“Unfortunately, when I requested it, they gave me the unsigned document… I don’t know why,” she said.

Vuma told the committee she had recommended in the report that the matter be referred to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) for further investigation.

Her recommendation was supported by the national commissioner at the time.

She said Cele subsequently convened a meeting with senior officials from Public Works, SAPS supply chain management and facility management to discuss the issue.

According to Vuma, the minister initially agreed that the matter should be investigated.

“The minister got seriously concerned that more than a billion rand had been spent on a building we could not occupy while we continued paying large amounts for leased buildings,” she said.

“He said General Vuma was right and that the matter must be referred to the Hawks.”

However, she said the situation changed afterwards.

“When the file came back, the minister wrote that the national commissioner must decide how to handle the matter,” she told the committee.

“That was a very strange comment.”

Vuma said that after recommending that the matter be referred to the Hawks, she began receiving threatening telephone calls.

“Some people told me I must stop that nonsense,” she said.

Others sent her copies of the information note containing her recommendation.

Vuma said as she was concerned about the risks she faced, said she submitted a protected disclosure to the national commissioner at the time, General Sitole.

She also suggested that the unsigned document given to her may have been deliberate.

“I requested the document while I was on suspension,” she said.

“Some officials were afraid they would be implicated, because people who communicated with me were being targeted.”

According to Vuma, some officials eventually resigned after being viewed as close to her.

The committee continues.

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