FS premier under fire

ALLEGATIONS: ACCUSED OF ROAD CONTRACT CORRUPTION ON WHATSAPP

- Faizel Patel

Free State Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae and her husband, Mangaung Metro speaker Lawrence Mathae, are in hot water after the alleged termination of a multimillion-rand road contract exposed claims of corruption.

Patrick Phuti, the CEO of New Beginnings, sent WhatsApp messages to the couple asking why he was sidelined from a project after he gave them two luxury cars - a Mercedes-Benz V300d and a BMW 7 Series.

The messages started circulating after the department of community safety, roads and transport terminated a road contract won by Phuti's company.

In the WhatsApp messages shared with The Citizen, which include proof of payment, Phuti congratulates the Mathaes on their new positions in the Free State government, but accused them of "bad treatment".

"The reason for my message is to try and find out why I got such bad treatment from you? After I have supported the organisation and the Mathae family with the project I got from the department of roads and transport," Phuti wrote.

"After so many transactions I made for the Mathae family, all of a sudden I was terminated from the project that benefited you and your husband.