Newly released Madlanga Commission court papers allege that Crime Intelligence boss Feroz Khan used his position to assist tobacco executive Mohammed "Mo" Sayed in pursuing lucrative government contracts, accessing sensitive procurement information and influencing key state officials
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On January 12 2021, alleged tobacco smuggler Mohammed "Mo" Sayed sent a WhatsApp message to SA's Crime Intelligence boss, Feroz Khan, asking whom he should approach to secure a contract to supply branded face masks to the police.
Within an hour, Khan replied he was meeting "someone tomorrow night who is the possible guy to make it happen".
Minutes later, Sayed sent through his price list, and by that evening, Khan messaged back to say the samples had arrived.
In another incident, Sayed sent Khan photographs of a warehouse that he proposed leasing to the National Treasury.
The exchanges are contained in a sworn affidavit filed by the Madlanga Commission and released to the public after Khan withdrew his court application to keep the documents secret on Monday.
The Madlanga Commission, chaired by acting deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, was appointed by Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate allegations of corruption, criminality, and political interference in the criminal justice system
Khan was arrested by SA’s elite crime-fighting unit the Hawks at his Houghton home in Johannesburg on May 10.
His iPhone 11 and a hard drive were seized during the operation.
In a lengthy affidavit seen by IOL, commission investigator Tshepo Nyatlo said WhatsApp chats had been extracted from the devices and catalogued in a detailed document supported by 29 annexures.
The 750-page document is linked to a summons for Khan, who is currently out on bail, to appear before the inquiry on July 1, where he will provide his side of the story.
"I am advised that Khan ought to have no involvement in SAPS procurement, or indeed in any other procurement within organs of state," Nyatlo said.
"However, he frequently tried to manipulate SAPS procurement and procurement in other organs of state for the benefit of himself and Sayed."
Sayed is a senior executive at Carnilinx, a tobacco company which, according to the court papers, admitted to tax evasion and money laundering as part of a 2014 settlement with the SA Revenue Service.
The papers further alleged the company continued to evade taxes on its tobacco products.
Carnilinx has also faced allegations of cigarette smuggling, with claims it labelled cigarettes for export to avoid paying local taxes before illicitly diverting them back into the domestic market.
According to Nyatlo, Khan knew this.
He said the two men were close friends and that the chats pertaining to the face mask tender began on January 12 2021, when Sayed messaged Khan seeking a government contract.
At the time, SA was in the doldrums of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the government was spending billions on personal protective equipment (PPE).
National Treasury managed standing supply agreements — known as transversal contracts — that allowed government departments to centrally procure PPE from approved suppliers.
Sayed wanted a piece of the pie, according to Nyatlo.
By June 2021, Sayed frequently contacted Khan to find out from their Treasury contact — referred to in the chats as "Fanie" — under what name the PPE transversal contracts had been registered.
Nyatlo identified "Fanie" as Molefe Fani, who at the time was a chief director at National Treasury responsible for overseeing emergency procurement and transversal contracting during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fani has since moved to a senior SAPS supply chain role and is currently suspended over his alleged involvement in a separate R360m police tender linked to jailed businessman Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala.
"On June 7 2021, Sayed forwarded to Khan a series of photographs and videos of a warehouse which he proposed to rent to National Treasury," Nyatlo said.
"At 11.18am, he explained that he could rent the premises to National Treasury and at 12.08pm he gave details of the warehouse and office space available.
"On July 7 2021, Mr Sayed sent Khan a message asking him to check with Fani how many test kits he was looking at ordering for the different government departments because Carnilinx Industries had received approval to distribute test kits.
"On July 20 2021, Sayed messaged Khan saying that they would discuss the PPE with Pilot [Fani] without Josie."
Josie is one of their business partners on several of their proposed public sector contracts.
By July 26, Khan forwarded Sayed the Treasury's internal Covid-19 procurement instruction and, photographed off a computer screen, the exact number of masks each province and division of the police needed.
The Western Cape alone needed 1.5 million masks, whilst the Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management division alongside Detective and Forensic Services required 1.6m. The total across SAPS ran to more than 5.4m masks.
Nyatlo said for over a week from August 2, the pressure intensified.
"Sayed repeatedly urged Khan to pressurise Fani and 'Gen 1' — who appears to have been a General in SAPS procurement — to give him orders for masks," Nyatlo said. "And Khan responded to his entreaties."
Sayed eventually demanded direct contact with Fani. Khan handed over his email address and then his phone number.
Whether any contract was ultimately awarded remained unclear.
"It is not clear from the chats what contracts Sayed's company secured and whether any amounts were paid pursuant to these contracts," Nyatlo said.
The mask scheme was allegedly not the only deal.
From June 12 2021, the chats, according to Nyatlo, showed Khan and Sayed attempting to cut themselves into an existing R280m IT contract between National Treasury and a technology company called Cyberia, as previously reported.
Cyberia held a government contract to roll out a financial management platform across public sector payrolls.
Again using Fani, referred to in these chats by the codename "Pilot", as their inside man, the two set up a company called Smada to receive payments.
On July 26, Sayed messaged Khan the financial breakdown on the R280m contract.
They stood to receive approximately R92.4m — 30% of the value, split equally three ways. That same evening, Sayed forwarded Khan a draft contract between Cyberia and Smada.
"It appears to be a thinly disguised kickback agreement for improper facilitation 'services' provided to Cyberia to secure the contract with Treasury," Nyatlo said.
Smada, he said, was "the corporate vehicle of Khan and Sayed for the Cyberia contract kickback".
It was not clear, Nyatlo added, whether the third share of approximately R27.6m was earmarked for Fani or someone else.
In the same bundle of papers was a detail connecting the network to the then-Ekurhuleni city manager, Imogen Mashazi.
The commission had already heard evidence that Mashazi protected the head of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD), Julius Mkhwanazi, from disciplinary action.
This after he allegedly allowed Matlala to use official police vehicles fitted with blue lights for personal use.
The WhatsApp chats showed a company called Zig Revenue Management, owned by Ze Nxumalo, paid Sayed's company Onyx Aviation R3.35m to fly Mashazi, her husband, and two friends to London for a weekend in July 2022.
The invoice is included in the court bundle.
On October 12 2022, Sayed forwarded Khan the UK immigration entry forms for Mashazi's party and the Execujet charter permit from the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
Nyatlo described the trip as "an apparent attempt by Onyx Aviation, Nxumalo and/or a third party to buy influence over Mashazi".
No findings have been made against her.
The chats, as previously reported, also revealed a direct operational relationship between Khan and EFF leader Julius Malema, again brokered by Sayed.
In June 2021, Khan drafted parliamentary questions designed to "trap" the then-inspector general of intelligence, Isaac Dintwe into lying to Parliament. Read more on this here and here.
The questions concerned Dintwe's alleged relationship with convicted drug lord Timmy Marimuthu.
Malema also allegedly asked Sayed: "Need to know the complaint in case no: SANDTON CAS 76/07/2019 (sic)."
Two words followed: "Juju bru."
That afternoon, Khan allegedly pulled the complainant's details from the SAPS case filing system and sent Sayed the name and private home address.
The complainant was Anoosh Rooplal, the court-appointed curator of VBS Mutual Bank, the collapsed lender at the centre of one of the country's worst banking fraud scandals.
Malema had been directly implicated in that scandal.
Former VBS chairman Tshifiwa Matodzi pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to an effective 15 years in prison.
In his plea, Matodzi stated he had paid millions in bribes to Malema and ex-EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, disguised as party donations, in exchange for political protection.
Malema and Shivambu denied the allegations.
A letter ostensibly written by EFF MPP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi and sent to then-police minister Bheki Cele on June 17 2021, asked whether Khan was part of an alleged deal with former president Jacob Zuma to deploy state intelligence resources to install Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as ANC president.
Ndlozi allegedly asked Cele whether he had discussed with Marimuthu "the supposed deal made by Zuma and Khan that he [Khan] will use state intelligence resources to ensure the election of Dlamini-Zuma as president of the ANC".
The commission has made no findings on this claim, and Cele has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
The commission must hand its final report to Ramaphosa by August 31 2026.
In closing his affidavit, Nyatlo said: "If Khan disputes any of these allegations, I invite him to do so under oath in his replying affidavit."
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