Johannesburg - I used to believe there is honour among thieves. Put simply, there was a time when I thought even criminals had minimum standards of behaviour which they respected. I was wrong.
That benefit of doubt proved futile at a hastily convened meeting with a top Limpopo politician and businessman in Tshwane on Tuesday.
It started on Saturday afternoon, a day after I sent questions to the Limpopo Department of Health about irregularities, fraud and nepotism in the procurement of R932 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE).
After fielding endless and desperate calls from several implicated parties - including politicians, officials and service providers - requesting “meetings” and asking me “not to finish” them off, the businessman suddenly calls late afternoon. He makes two calls in quick succession shortly after 5pm but I ignore them since I am on deadline. I later try to return his calls but he doesn’t answer his phone. I am thinking the purpose of the call is to avail himself for a meeting as agreed to in June, to discuss various matters including allegations levelled against him as well as political dynamics in Limpopo. After the front page of the paper is shared on social media on Saturday night, the businessman sends me a text message via Telegram.
“Apology Bru....we keep missing each other, there was a matter I needed to bounce off. Will come through to GP on Tuesday,” he says.
He does not reveal what it is that he wants to bounce off with me. Neither does he indicate what the purpose of the meeting is. But at the back of my mind I expect more files on the PPE and other irregularities in Limpopo.
“Let’s confirm on Tuesday morning. I have a trip out of GP this week. Not sure when I will be back. Thanks Bru, “ I text back the following day.
“Thanks Bru....will come thru at 10:00.Blessed Sunday and Stay Safe,” he says, before following up with another text message on Monday night.
“Good evening Bru, re-confirming session for tomorrow morning.Kindly advise if it is Tshwane or JHB. Irene Lodge would be ideal for mid way.”
I then responded: “Irene Lodge will be fine. Anytime before 14:00. Thanks.”
Upon my arrival, he asked that we take our phones to the bathroom. After taking me through his legal challenges, and Limpopo political dynamics, he said: “I am being tormented by the same people who are tormenting you,” he said, later clarifying that he meant “PG (Pravin Gordhan), who has a stranglehold on the president”.
I then ask why would they want to torment him. “They have preferred people to lead the province and I am seen as a stumbling block because I have support on the ground. They want Soviet (Lekganyane) to lead. I am not even interested,” he says.
He then ventures into our Limpopo PPE fraud and corruption investigation, saying Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba asked him to intervene on Saturday.
“The MEC was hysterical. She said to me, do you know Piet? Please speak to him because I don’t know whether I may have wronged him in the past. I can’t be finished off by a brother.
“Now daggers are out for her. They say she must go. Even the likes of Joshua Matlou, her own people.”
After I explained to him that there was no ulterior motive against Ramathuba, and that it was a normal PPE tender investigation which started in Gauteng, the businessman seemed satisfied. He then asked me about a service provider, whose contact details I once gave him in April regarding her business expansion plan to Limpopo.
“I am going to resign from politics and focus on business. Then I will also be able to sort you out regarding that lady you referred to me. I contacted her and checked her profile. I gave her contacts in several municipalities and departments. You know me. I am not involved in these things,” he said. I told him I actually did not know the lady “from a bar of soap”.
“I am friends with someone who is close to her uncle. She asked her uncle to help her with contacts in Limpopo to expand her business. They also wanted your number, but I said to my friend, because I don’t know this lady, he must give me her contact number and I would rather give it to you. It will be up to you to decide whether you want to talk to her, I tell him."
I notice some disappointment in his face upon hearing I had no interest in the woman’s business. Then the discussion shifts to a multimillion communications advisory tender which he said Mathabatha wanted to award to a suitable individual or company for two years.
“You know me and the premier are close, mos. He called me on Sunday. He says he wants to appoint a company to do PR and Communications Advisory. The province has lost senior communicators. The likes of Phuti (Seloba) have left and the guys are messing up. I thought I should bounce it off you as a brother. Don’t you know a company or two you think we can give this contract to?” says the businessman.
However, he does not directly offer me the contract or any money.
“Look, I don’t know any company because I don’t play in that space. I have always been an editorial person. I also have a relationship of mistrust with many PR agents. Instead of giving a journalist an alternative angle to the story about their clients, or giving you the version of events of their clients, they’d rather say, ‘please drop the story and my client will give you money’, which for me is demeaning and disrespectful because it suggests I don’t earn a salary or I can only be influenced by money,” I respond.
Thirty or so minutes later, the meeting ended. On my way home, I started pondering about the purpose and tone of the meeting. It became clear that it was a trap, which was probably videotaped, in a desperate attempt to either corrupt and silence me, or get evidence of me either accepting cash or an offer of a multimillion state contract. The recording would then be used to blackmail, discredit and eventually silence me. This was confirmed by two ANC activists close to the businessman upon my return to Limpopo this week. They said the businessman was disappointed because he couldn’t deliver me. The meeting was recorded, they said, but there was nothing in there that could be used against me. I was speechless.
Indeed, as they say, there is no honour among thieves. My belief that even criminals have minimum standards of behaviour which they respect, was clearly misplaced.
* Piet Mahasha Rampedi is assistant editor of the Sunday Independent.