…sacked PS breaks silence,
…claims he was punished for trying to stop Leribe Sports Complex from bleeding public funds
—Insists he never took a bribe
Mohloai Mpesi
FORMER Tourism, Sports, Arts and Culture principal secretary Pokello Mahlomola has broken his silence over his dismissal, rejecting allegations that he took bribes to authorise an M83 million payment to a consultant involved in the troubled Leribe Sports Complex project.
Instead, Mr Mahlomola claims he was punished after attempting to stop the decade-old project from continuing to haemorrhage public funds.
He says his intervention ultimately saved the government about M220 million by terminating a professional services agreement whose costs had spiralled dramatically since it was signed in 2013.
Mr Mahlomola was dismissed in June 2025 without being given reasons, he says.
Speaking in an exclusive interview at his Khubetsoana home this week, Mr Mahlomola said Government Secretary Teboho ’Mokela simply handed him a termination letter without a prior show-cause notice or explanation.
He said he subsequently learnt from people close to Prime Minister Sam Matekane that his dismissal had been linked to allegations that he received bribes from Design Edge (Pty) Ltd, trading as Design Edge Consortium, to authorise an M83 million payment to the company.
He vehemently denies the allegation.
“The third allegation is that I took bribes. I never received any. It is so unfortunate,” Mr Mahlomola said.
The government contracted Design Edge in October 2013 to provide design and construction-supervision services for the Leribe Sports Complex.
Mr Mahlomola said successive governments had continued paying the company despite years of delays on the project, creating what he described as a perpetual drain on public finances.
“Every government has been paying these people without any progress, and the expectation was that I should also do the same, so that they would always have a debt to settle as a way of channelling government money,” he said.
“I was going to be left with the taint for the rest of my life that I participated in corrupt activities instead of being diligent enough to save government money.
“The project was being used as a cash cow. If I had managed to audit it, that company could have been liquidated. It is just that I did not receive support.”
Mr Mahlomola said he was also told that the Prime Minister believed he had failed to inform Cabinet before terminating the Design Edge agreement.
He disputes that assertion, saying an information paper prepared for Cabinet had been withheld by then Tourism, Sports, Arts and Culture minister Motlatsi Maqelepo.
He said the Attorney General’s office had advised him that Cabinet merely needed to be informed because it had already directed that the agreement be terminated.
Costs spiral
Mr Mahlomola, who became principal secretary in April 2024, said he inherited a Cabinet directive to negotiate the termination of Design Edge’s contract.
The professional services agreement was originally valued at M108 million for design and construction supervision.
By the time he took office, Mr Mahlomola said, the government had already paid M115 million, while projected costs had risen to M276 million.
The associated construction contract had meanwhile ballooned from an initial M740 million to a projected M2.9 billion, he said.
He blamed much of the escalation on chronic underfunding of the project from inception.
Government had allocated only M5 million in the first year and M6 million in the second against substantially higher project requirements, he said. The resulting delays generated penalties and claims which further inflated costs.
The M83 million dilemma
Mr Mahlomola said he inherited an outstanding M83 million bill owed to Design Edge for two unpaid and undisputed certificates dating back to June and July 2021.
He sought guidance from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, whose assessment found parts of the project about 75 percent complete and others only 25 percent complete.
“My worry was that if I paid this M83 million, other bills were going to come. I wanted value for that money,” he said.
A team of Public Works quantity surveyors and civil engineers subsequently recommended a professional audit, he said.
Mr Mahlomola alleged that Mr Maqelepo initially urged him to proceed with the payment, but he resisted because he feared another claim of approximately M93 million would follow.
He then proposed an audit costing about M400 000. Mr Maqelepo subsequently withdrew his support for the audit, citing pressure from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning over delays to the project, Mr Mahlomola claimed.
Mr Mahlomola said he then approached an independent expert registered with Public Works and experienced in South African government projects. The expert reviewed the documentation without charge and raised concerns about Design Edge’s pricing.
Mr Mahlomola said he took those findings to Attorney General Advocate Rapelang Motsieloa KC, concerns that the contractor had not charged according to standard rates.
He said Finance principal secretary ’Nthoateng Lebona recused herself from the matter because Design Edge managing director Motšoene Lebona is her sibling.
According to Mr Mahlomola, no Finance official was then willing to release funds for the proposed audit.
Adv Motsieloa consequently offered to raise the matter with Prime Minister Matekane so that then Finance Minister Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane could be directed to release the funds, he said.
But the process stalled for about two months.
With the Accountant-General pressing for the matter to be resolved before the March financial year-end and Design Edge threatening liquidation proceedings, Mr Mahlomola said his team eventually agreed to settle the M83 million while resisting further claims.
Contract terminated
Cabinet had resolved on 26 January 2023 that the main agreement should be terminated through negotiations.
The negotiated termination took effect on 31 March 2025.
Under the settlement, Mr Mahlomola said, Design Edge forfeited approximately M26 million by waiving a 10 percent surcharge on unearned fees, claims for accrued project disbursements and interest on delayed payments.
Of the outstanding M83 493 508.78, the government paid M67 493 508.78 immediately.
The remaining M16 million was withheld pending Design Edge’s completion of outstanding design work to full stage-four level, including tender bills of quantities ready for contractor pricing. Payment was also subject to certification by Public Works’ Building Design Services department.
Mr Mahlomola maintains that the negotiations ultimately saved the government approximately M220 million.
AG approved deal
Mr Mahlomola said Deputy Attorney General Advocate Makhele Sekati approved the termination agreement in a savingram dated 31 January 2025, describing it as legally sound and advising him to keep Cabinet informed and confirm the availability of Treasury funds before signing.
He maintains that he attempted to inform Cabinet but was frustrated when Mr Maqelepo withdrew the information paper prepared for that purpose.
“I was not seeking approval, only informing them that we had negotiated and finished,” Mr Mahlomola said.
“He said I should have informed Cabinet before terminating, yet Cabinet had already instructed the termination.”
Mr Mahlomola said the Deputy Attorney General had advised him that Cabinet approval was unnecessary because the payment arose from an existing contractual obligation.
DCEO freezes payment
Mr Mahlomola said the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) subsequently froze Design Edge’s funds after the payment on suspicion of corruption.
“A few weeks after paying Design Edge, they wrote to say their funds had been frozen by the DCEO. I went to ask why. They said they didn’t know a contract existed that had to be paid,” he said.
He said Design Edge later told him it had provided the Accountant-General’s supporting documentation but the funds remained frozen.
The DCEO subsequently subjected him to lengthy questioning about the payment, Mr Mahlomola said.
“They asked me why I paid before informing Cabinet. I told them I had prepared an information paper, but the minister withdrew it, saying we should finish the termination first,” he said.
“I don’t seek Cabinet’s approval — I only give them information.
“They said they suspected corruption, but they could not point to where it had occurred. If I wanted to be corrupt, why didn’t I hand them the whole M220 million we saved so they could come back with another claim?”
‘Sacked without a hearing’
Mr Mahlomola said he was never given an opportunity to formally answer any allegations before his dismissal.
“There has never been a show-cause [letter] that I was given. I was only handed a termination letter,” he said.
“The Government Secretary never called me, and the Prime Minister never called me.
“On the day I went to the GS’s office to explain how I had handled the whole issue, I noticed her interest waning, not knowing she had already drafted the letter.”
Mr Mahlomola said neither the DCEO nor the Prime Minister had contacted him since his dismissal.
He maintains that, far from facilitating corruption, his actions were intended to protect the public purse and finally end a contractual arrangement that had kept the Leribe Sports Complex project financially exposed for more than a decade.
