Ex-construction mafia boss paid R8m ‘to protect lives’
Zulu kingdom royal chancellor Inkosi Malusi Zondi is accused of extorting more than R8.5m for the provision of ‘strategic security’ and ‘protecting human lives’ in the oft-delayed multibillion-rand, multi-phase Lower uMkhomazi water project.
News24 has seen an invoice sent by Zondi’s company, ezaMancinza, to Stefanutti Stocks, which won part of the tender for the water project’s infrastructure.
The invoice is for services to ‘protect human lives’, ‘curb project delays’, and enable a ‘working environment free of threats and stoppages’, among others.
This despite Stan Gumede Trading and Security – a company independent of Zondi – being appointed to guard the site.
Zondi and others spent four years invading construction projects in KZN and forcing them to stop work by demanding a 30% slice of the contract value.
The Black Business Federation (BBF), a business lobby group of which Zondi is president, then sought to position itself as a voice against the construction mafia.
The uMkhomazi bulk supply project is widely considered a flagship infrastructure project.
More than 50 000 households in the eThekwini metro and the Ugu District Municipality stand to benefit from the project.
When completed, it will ease tensions over water between two neighbouring communities in areas abutting the Eastern Cape and KZN.
However, the project has been marred by delays and violence, including the death of a high-ranking government official, Xolani Chamane.
Zondi requested a meeting with News24 to 'manage the story'.
He later said the allegations were wrong and that he was working hard to bring peace to KZN in his role as a counsellor to the king.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
