Former ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe’s legal woes are deepening after the Special Tribunal dismissed his attempt to halt the Special Investigating Unit’s civil recovery case against him.
The Special Investigating Unit on Friday welcomed the judgment, which clears the way for its corruption case linked to a multimillion-rand waste collection tender to proceed without further delay.
Mabe had approached the Tribunal seeking to stay the SIU proceedings until his High Court review application and related criminal proceedings are finalised. The Tribunal rejected the application, ruling that the civil recovery action must continue.
It is the latest setback for the former ANC Youth League leader whose assets have already been frozen by the Tribunal.
In 2024, the Special Tribunal granted the SIU an order to freeze Mabe’s immovable property in the exclusive Steyn City estate and his luxury vehicles, including a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, as investigators closed in on alleged kickbacks from a Gauteng government tender.
At the centre of the case is a tender awarded to Enviro Mobi, a company contracted for waste collection services. The SIU investigation uncovered serious procurement irregularities in the awarding of that contract.
According to the SIU, the probe discovered that 90% of the money paid to Enviro Mobi was siphoned off into accounts controlled by Mabe, a finding that forms the backbone of both the civil recovery and criminal cases against him.
The judgment means the SIU can now press ahead with its action to recover public funds allegedly lost through the deal.
The SIU has argued that allowing accused persons to stall civil recovery until criminal trials are concluded would undermine the very purpose of the Special Tribunal, which was established to ensure swift recovery of state money lost to corruption and maladministration.
Mabe’s attempt to link the two processes was seen by the Tribunal as a delay tactic with no legal basis to stop the civil proceedings.
Mabe, who once held one of the most powerful communication positions in the ruling party, has seen his political and business fortunes unravel since the SIU investigation began.
The ruling is also a boost for the SIU’s wider anti-corruption drive, which has increasingly targeted politically connected individuals who allegedly used front companies to loot municipal and provincial contracts.
He has previously denied wrongdoing and maintained that the payments were legitimate business transactions unrelated to the Enviro Mobi tender.
However, the Tribunal’s continued freezing of his high-value assets suggests the court found prima facie evidence warranting preservation of assets pending final determination.
With the stay application now dismissed, the SIU is expected to push for a trial date in the Special Tribunal to finalise the forfeiture and recovery of the funds.
