A new twist has emerged in the case involving property tycoon Ralebala Mampeule, who has made bribery and corruption allegations against senior Public Investment Corporation (PIC) officials.

This followed the major fallout surrounding a botched R700m loan agreement that involved Mampeule acquiring a stake in the fibre company MetroFibre Networx.

Internal PIC documents reveal that, shortly after the empowerment deal was finalised, Mampeule, through his firm Digital Infrastructure Consortium (DIC), made an unusual request for a further R6.6m cash advance from the PIC.

The Sunday Times reports that this was rejected, and the deal collapsed.

The request was considered bizarre because, typically in transactions of this nature, beneficiaries are expected to fund their own transaction costs – including legal fees, valuations and audited financials – to ensure they have ‘skin in the game’. 

The PIC’s R162bn unlisted investments division, the Isibaya Fund, has a history of controversy and a high impairment ratio of 51.5%.

The request for working capital was also odd because DIC and its special purpose vehicle Levoca 805, which held the MetroFibre shares, were not operational and therefore did not require working capital.

Mampeule dismissed questions about the deal, his cash request and the timing of his allegations, as ‘harassment of a whistle-blower’.

He referred to a December 2025 ruling by the Randburg Magistrate’s Court that dismissed a harassment case Moshikara had opened against him and said DIC and Levoca 805 were ‘currently awaiting our investment payment from PIC for our Metrofibre investment’ – a reference to ongoing negotiations over shares he had held for less than a year.

While the PIC did not comment on whether it would pay Mampeule out, the Sunday Times was informed that an internal PIC valuation had put the worth of the MetroFibre stake at just under R1bn, suggesting Mampeule could receive up to R200m.

The PIC firmly denied Mampeule’s allegations last week, calling them ‘baseless’ and noting that ‘to date no evidence has been shared with PIC, despite several requests’.

Mampeule’s default on transaction fees was the initial trigger event on the agreement, the PIC said, followed by the shareholders’ resolution to place the company into business rescue instead of remedying the breach.

Full Sunday Times report