The scope of the tender fraud charges against former Cape Town human settlements MMC Malusi Booi has escalated, with the alleged value involved now surpassing R1bn.
Booi, arrested in the Eastern Cape on Monday, was back in the Cape Town magistrate’s court on Friday.
The former DA councillor was detained alongside nine other suspects, including his former wife, Nomvuyo Mnyaka, and Siphokazi September, the former Cape Town director of public housing.
The state claims the group is linked to feared alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson.
According to the state, they were allegedly part of Stanfield and Johnson’s criminal “enterprise” that operated in Cape Town between 2019 and March 2023.
The court heard the prosecution’s arguments on the proposed bail amounts and conditions.
The prosecution told the court the alleged fraud, which the state believed to have involved 11 tenders that were awarded to three companies suspected to be linked to Stanfield and Johnson, involved only eight tenders worth R1.024bn.
Booi, through his lawyer, told the court he could afford R5,000 bail. But the state proposed R200,000 bail. The court will make its ruling on Tuesday.
Stanfield and Johnson will be joined in the tender fraud case on October 16. The couple is awaiting trial behind bars for other crimes. They were arrested in 2023 in connection with the theft of a car.
After the hearing, Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, said the state was not opposing Booi and his co-accused’s release on bail but the court would decide.
“Last week, the state proposed bail amounts of between R20,000 and R200,000 and also put its case before the court. So the accused, through their legal representatives responded to those. The court decided to postpone the matter to Tuesday for the magistrate to go through all the submissions and make a decision.”
Ntabazalila said the prosecution consulted city officials about the value of the tenders that the charges emanated from, and the figure increased.
“They came back to us and said it’s not 11 tenders, it’s eight and the (value went up to) R1.024bn,” he said.
“And we were able to list the amounts each company received. The tenders ranged between R60m and R200m for each company at different times.”
Ntabazalila elaborated on the Stanfield link. “Remember we said these are members of the Ralph Stanfield and the Nicole Johnson enterprise. So, when we come back on the 16th (of October) they will be joined to this case.”
Before Booi’s bail hearing on Friday, Stanfield and Johannes Coetzee appeared before the same magistrate via Microsoft Teams. They were charged with the murder of Hard Livings gang boss Rashied Staggie.
Staggie died in a hail of bullets on London Road, Salt River, in December 2019.
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