VANDERBIJLPARK, Monday 14 September 2026 — Official Emfuleni Local Municipality records show that a company linked to businessman Mpho Edward Malema received R34.78 million for municipal vehicles in 2023, significantly more than the R16 million procurement at the centre of the criminal case in which Malema currently faces fraud, theft and corruption charges.
The figures, contained in written responses submitted to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in April 2023 and reported by the Sunday Times on Monday, create a new line of scrutiny around the municipality’s fleet procurement as investigators continue tracing vehicles allegedly paid for but never delivered under the separate R16 million transaction.
Emfuleni says the R34.8 million is not missing and that the larger figure relates to vehicles which municipal records state were delivered.
The municipality has cautioned against assuming the R34.8 million and the R16 million criminal case are the same transaction while police and prosecutors continue their investigation.
Legislature records list 19 vehicles worth R34.78m
The April 2023 response, signed by then municipal manager April Ntuli, says Emfuleni procured 19 vehicles from the service provider and paid R34,784,018.36.
According to the document, the vehicles comprised three Sany motor graders valued at about R18.7 million, eight Toyota single-cab vehicles costing roughly R4.2 million, five four-tonne trucks worth R6.3 million and three similar trucks fitted with cherry pickers at a cost of about R5.5 million.
Ntuli’s response stated that the vehicles had been delivered, registered with Emfuleni as title holder and owner and allocated to different municipal depots.
Those representations now sit alongside a later criminal investigation involving an allegedly different set or component of the municipality’s fleet procurement.
NPA case centres on R16m for 18 vehicles
The National Prosecuting Authority says Malema, 40, is a director of Mabula Forestry and Construction and faces charges of corruption, fraud and theft.
Prosecutors allege former Emfuleni fleet manager Lerato Selaelo Mpholo received R50,000 and other undisclosed payments from Malema in exchange for facilitating fleet procurement contracts for his company.
The NPA alleges Emfuleni paid about R16 million for 18 vehicles, including trucks and bakkies, but the vehicles were not delivered as contracted.
Seven vehicles have subsequently been recovered from other entities and investigators are still seeking the remainder, according to prosecutors.
Malema has not been convicted and the allegations remain to be tested in court.
He is due back in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates’ Court on Monday for a formal bail process, with the State having indicated that it intends opposing his release.
Municipality says R34m is accounted for
Emfuleni spokesperson Makhosonke Sangweni told the Sunday Times there was no basis for saying R34 million was missing.
He said only a number of vehicles were currently under investigation and emphasised that the procurement had been conducted through a National Treasury transversal contract, rather than through an independently selected municipal supplier process.
Sangweni said the municipality continued to stand by the information previously provided to the provincial legislature and would comment more fully once the court processes were completed.
That distinction is important.
The R34.78 million legislature record establishes what the municipality said it paid and received in 2023. It does not by itself establish that the full amount forms part of the criminal case currently before court.
DA calls for reconciliation of payment and vehicle records
DA Emfuleni mayoral candidate Kingsol Chabalala has called for the municipality and investigators to reconcile the two sets of figures.
He questioned why the criminal case currently focuses on approximately R16 million while earlier official records show more than double that amount paid to a supplier associated with Malema.
The DA has asked for clarity on the total number of vehicles procured, which vehicles were delivered, their ownership records, payment values and where recovered assets are currently located.
Those questions remain political demands rather than findings against the municipality or the accused.
Fleet case grew out of murdered official’s complaints
The investigation carries additional significance because police have linked the fleet inquiry to complaints made by murdered Emfuleni finance employee Martha Mani Rantsofu before her death.
Rantsofu was shot dead in Vanderbijlpark on 30 March 2026.
Gauteng police later confirmed that the R16 million vehicle matter was among irregularities she had reported before she was killed.
National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said investigators examining Rantsofu’s murder uncovered evidence relating to vehicles procured for Emfuleni that were subsequently found associated with other municipalities and a private company.
The Political Killings Task Team is investigating both the financial cases arising from her complaints and the motive and perpetrators behind her murder.
Police have not stated that Malema or Mpholo were responsible for Rantsofu’s killing.
Earlier municipal denials were overtaken by police confirmation
Emfuleni had initially disputed claims that Rantsofu had been a whistleblower in the fleet matter.
In April, the municipality said its own internal investigation had uncovered the procurement problems and argued that Rantsofu’s death should not be linked to the R16 million fleet case.
Police subsequently contradicted part of that account.
In July, Gauteng police spokesperson Amanda van Wyk confirmed that the fleet case originated from complaints lodged by Rantsofu, while Mathe later said the broader investigation now being pursued by the Political Killings Task Team arose from her killing.
Whether the procurement allegations were a motive for her murder remains under investigation.
Fleet management already central to Emfuleni service-delivery plans
The municipality’s fleet has wider governance importance beyond the criminal proceedings.
Emfuleni began rolling out a major replacement fleet earlier this year and said in February that it planned to acquire 145 vehicles to improve service delivery.
The municipality publicly unveiled new vehicles for road, waste and other frontline functions as part of that programme.
Any uncertainty around historical fleet procurement therefore affects an area central to current municipal operations.
New records widen questions, not the criminal charge sheet
The latest disclosure does not establish that R34.8 million was stolen or improperly spent.
What it establishes is that Emfuleni’s own 2023 records show a substantially larger vehicle-payment relationship with a company linked to the businessman now accused in the R16 million case.
The NPA’s criminal allegations remain specifically focused on the charged conduct currently before court.
Investigators will now face pressure to establish whether the R34.78 million record and the R16 million alleged fraud involve distinct procurements, overlapping vehicles or other transactions requiring further investigation.
With the 4 November local government elections less than two months away, the case also gives voters in one of Gauteng’s most troubled municipalities another measure against which to judge financial controls, accountability and the management of assets intended for basic municipal services.
