By Johnathan Paoli
Gauteng Organised Crime Investigations Sergeant Fannie Nkosi has admitted before the Madlanga Commission that he enlisted TMPD Deputy Chief Umashi Dlamini, identified as “General Dlamini” to help his brother’s company secure a City of Tshwane tender, despite extensive evidence that the company failed to meet multiple mandatory requirements.
Being questioned before the Madlanga Commission on Thursday afternoon on how the bid was rehabilitated months after the official deadline for his brother Bheki Nkosi’s company Ngaphesheya, Nkosi admitted to seeking help from Dlamini, but maintained it was an innocent referral.
“I asked General Dlamini to assist my brother’s company… he connected us with a consultant who ensured the company was compliant. I requested assistance for my brother’s company only. El Shaddai was included because the same consultant worked with them. They are also a joint venture partner with my brother’s company at events,” he said.
Evidence leader advocate Matthew Chaskalson presented extensive documentation showing that Ngaphesheya’s bid was non-compliant on at least 12 independent grounds, including the absence of a valid PSIRA certificate, failure to meet required grading, lack of firearm licences, missing financial and banking documentation, and incomplete vehicle and lease agreements.
Despite the tender closing in October 2024, the commission heard that Dlamini continued to send instructions to Nkosi as late as April 2025, detailing outstanding compliance issues and directing that they be addressed.
In one such message, Dlamini instructed Nkosi to “push Bheki to submit the above documents”, referring to missing requirements in Ngaphesheya’s bid.
Nkosi initially attempted to distance himself from the timeline, claiming the communication was related to a different project.
“I thought that was about a Mpumalanga project,” Nkosi said.
However, when confronted with evidence linking the documents directly to the Tshwane tender, Nkosi conceded that it did in fact relate to the same tender.
The commission highlighted the improbability of a bid being amended six months after closure, suggesting a coordinated effort to retrofit compliance.
Nkosi resisted the implication of wrongdoing, maintaining that he did not orchestrate anything.
Further evidence showed that Nkosi remained deeply involved in shaping the outcome of the tender process, including forwarding a list of preferred bidders, compiled by an external figure identified as “Nico”, to Tshwane CFO Gareth Mnisi.
Nkosi confirmed sending the list with the message “our vehicles for land to be given to Mfuwetu in order of priority”.
When Mnisi responded “this is the final list right?”, Nkosi replied that it was their “final list”.
He explained that “Nico”, who had been introduced by Dlamini, was responsible for ensuring that the listed companies were compliant.
The commission also examined a message sent by Nkosi to Dlamini requesting a “list of preferred people for demolition”, which he struggled to explain, claiming that he was not certain what the message referred to.
Parallel to the tender process, Nkosi facilitated ongoing communication between Mnisi and Dlamini regarding a bidder, Gubis, which had raised complaints about the outcome.
Nkosi forwarded a message from Dlamini indicating that he had met with Gubis representatives and instructed them to follow proper channels.
According to the message relayed through Nkosi, Dlamini told them “they should go back where they’ve started, he’s the only gateway, protocol must be observed”.
Nkosi endorsed the message, replying: “nice one general”.
Nkosi, however, denied that this exchange was related to Gubis, despite earlier messages explicitly naming the company.
The commission further heard that after Dlamini redirected Gubis to Mnisi, individuals linked to the bidder, including Mandla Mthina, whom Nkosi identified as a nephew of taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni, made repeated calls to Mnisi.
Nkosi confirmed that he forwarded these call logs to Dlamini but claimed he did not remember why he sent them.
Additional messages revealed Nkosi’s urgency in securing the tender outcome.
In one communication to Dlamini, he wrote: “We can’t lose now. We’ve been waiting for this for a while”
Nkosi maintained that this message referred to a separate project, but was confronted with Dlamini’s response, which directly referenced Ngaphesheya’s deficiencies in the Tshwane bid: “Ngaphesheya is grade B and has nothing in the documents…we need grade A”.
When pressed on the contradiction, Nkosi offered no clear explanation.
Chaskalson put it to Nkosi that the sequence of messages demonstrated a coordinated effort to manipulate the tender process by fixing compliance issues after the deadline and prioritising selected bidders through informal channels.
Nkosi rejected this characterisation, maintaining that no one had the right to influence tenders.
However, the commission noted that Nkosi himself had acted as the conduit through which lists of preferred bidders, compliance interventions, and communications between senior officials were channelled, often outside formal processes.
The commission underscored the central contradiction in Nkosi’s testimony: that a demonstrably non-compliant company linked to his family was assisted, amended, and ultimately positioned within a preferred bidder list months after the tender had officially closed.
Proceedings adjourned for the day, with Nkosi expected to return to the commission on Friday.
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