AHUIWI Netshidaulu, the former CEO of water utility Lepelle Northern Water (LNW), has accused the board’s chairperson, Dr Nndweleni Mphephu, of conspiring and abusing his power to protect a service provider and a senior official charged with criminal activities.  

In an affidavit, Netshidaulu says Dr Mphephu threatened and tried to manipulate him into dropping his ongoing intimidation case against businessman Matome Sefalafala, the owner of Falaz General Trading and Construction (Pty) Ltd, and Phineas Legodi, former LNW CEO. Otherwise, the duo would spread damaging allegations against him.  

Netshidaulu was a witness in a multi-million tender fraud and corruption case against Legodi and Sefalafala and another of intimidation he had laid against the two men in 2020. 

In June 2020, Legodi, Sefalafala and others were charged with fraud and corruption relating to a lucrative waste management contract awarded by LNW during Legodi’s tenure as CEO. At the time, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) raided Polokwane’s water utility headquarters and left with dozens of documents and computer hard drives. The Commercial Crimes Court later withdrew the case against the suspects, citing lack of evidence.

While the fraud and corruption case was still before the court and Sefalafala and Legodi were out on bail, Netshidaulu laid a case of intimidation against the two men. He alleged that they threatened to spread malicious claims against him unless he paid Sefalafala the balance on his invoice despite the LNW Board’s decision to stop outstanding payments to contractors under investigation.

The intimidation case is still before the court. 

According to Netshidaulu, Dr Mphephu acted as a conduit for Sefalafala and Legodi and used his position to help the two men evade the law. He said in his affidavit that on the afternoon of 25 August 2021, Dr Mphephu met with him at LNW’s offices in Polokwane, Limpopo, where he conveyed a message from Sefalafala and Legodi that they were preparing to bring damaging allegations against him (Netshidaulu) before the LNW board unless he complied with their demands.

Dr Mphephu indicated that these allegations would surface unless Netshidaulu ceased his resistance and withdrew a kidnapping case against Sefalafala and Legodi. 

“Nndweleni Fred Mphephu informed me that Mr. Sefalafala and Mr. Legodi indicated to formally submit those allegations against me if I continue to fight them, and they also stated that they would only not consider or refrain from submitting those allegations if I dropped the kidnapping case that I opened against them.”

“Mr Sefalafala and Mr P.K Legodi, along with a Police Officer Mr G. Matlala, are accused and charged in an ongoing kidnapping case. I opened this kidnapping case because I was forced to pay, under duress, the outstanding invoice of the Falaz General Trading and Construction company against the Board’s decision not to pay flagged contracts,” Netshidaulu said in his affidavit. 

Netshidaulu said following the meeting, Dr Mphephu sent him a WhatsApp message reiterating these threats and instructing him to communicate his decision so he could pass it on to Sefalafala and Legodi.

He said Dr Mphephu’s conduct amounted to defeating the ends of justice because Sefalafala and Legodi’s bail conditions barred them from contacting or communicating with witnesses. 

“I did not call him about the matter because I felt intimidated and pressured. His conduct appeared to be defeating/obstructing the ends of justice and was against the interim Board resolution from which he was also part of the interim Board meeting. His conduct was also not in line with the fiduciary duties of accounting authorities as per the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) No. 1 of 1999, sections 50 and 51. It was very concerning for me to learn that the Board Chairperson met and communicated with the accused persons and even conveyed messages from them to me, which goes against the bail condition prohibiting the accused from contacting the witnesses and complainants.”

“It’s important to note that Lepelle Northern Water (LNW) is witnessing in the tender fraud and corruption case (CAS 717/06/2020), and Nndweleni Fred Mphephu serves as the Board Chairperson of LNW. Additionally, I am the complainant in the kidnapping case and a witness in both the fraud and kidnapping cases,” he added. 

He said on August 26, 2020, a day after he met Dr Mphephu, the exact allegations found their way to the LNW Board through the state-owned company’s anonymous tip-off line. 

Netshudaulu’s affidavit said Sefalafala had previously sent him the same letter and threatened to spread the allegations unless he paid him the balance on his invoice. 

“I noticed that the letter of allegations that Board Chairperson Nndweleni Fred Mphephu sent me was the same letter that Mr Sefalafala had previously sent me on WhatsApp (see Annexure AN 03). Mr. Sefalafala also sent me the letter trying to threaten and/or intimidate me by saying he would send it to the Board members if I don’t pay him the balance on his invoice. The invoice balance was part of the invoices that the LNW interim Board had resolved not to be paid,” said Sefalafala. 

He said he immediately reported the matter to the Board through the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) chairperson for advice in line with the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, no 12 of 2004 (PCCA)), but received no feedback. According to a termination letter signed by Dr Mphephu in September 2021, he fired Netshuidaulu as acting CEO with “immediate effect”. He moved him back to his position as LNW’s General Manager for Operations and Maintenance. 

“Kindly be informed that your appointment as the  Acting Chief Executive of Lepelle Northern Water has been terminated with immediate effect. The Board would like to express sincere gratitude for your hard work and contributions throughout the acting period,” Dr Mphephu said in a September 10, 2021 letter.  

When contacted for comment, Netshidaulu confirmed the contents of his affidavit. He said he opened intimidation and defeated the ends of justice case against the trio because Sefalafala and Legodi contacted him through Dr Mphephu even though their bail conditions barred them from doing so. 

Netshidaulu said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) advised him to lay criminal charges because Legodi and Sefalafala had violated their bail conditions by contacting a state witness. 

Dr Mphephu and Lepelle Northern Water declined to comment on Netshidaulu’s accusations, including allegations that the Board Chairperson abused his power and defeated the ends of justice. LNW spokesperson Joe Makhafola said neither party would comment on the matter.

“Mr Ahuiwi Netshidaulu is no longer an employee of LepelleNorthern Water (LNW) since December 2023. LNW and the Chairperson of the Board will not comment on the matter,” said Makhafola.

Sefalafala dismissed Netshidailu’s allegations, saying they were “shocking” and “spurious”. He said he neither threatened to disclose damaging information about Netshidaulu nor met Dr Mphephu. 

“This is shocking. I have nothing damaging or anything against anyone including Mr Netshidaulu. I don’t even have his contacts anymore. I have never met Board chairperson Dr Mphephu. These allegations are spurious. I look forward to the matter being ventilated in an open court in due course and [the] truth be laid bare,” Sefalafala said. 

The businessman threatened legal action against those spreading such allegations against him. 

“I strongly dismiss allegations levelled against me. This is pure bunkum tendencies [sic] geared to tarnish my reputation; therefore, such must cease to exist. If this continues, I will engage my legal team to defuse such tomfoolery trends,” he added. 

Legodi said he was not involved in any campaign against Netshidaulu, adding they were friends and former colleagues who had worked together for more than 20 years. Legodi said he had no personal relationship with Dr Mphephu.

Legodi said Netshidaulu’s claims that he had conspired with Dr Mphephu made no sense because the current LNW board members are the same people who pushed him away. 

Netshidaulu was appointed acting CEO of Lepelle Northern Water on 4 June 2020 after serving as General Manager of Operations and Maintenance since 2015. However, his tenure as acting CEO was short-lived. A year later, on 10 September 2021, Dr Mphephu removed him. Three days later, LNW placed Netshudaulu on precautionary suspension pending an investigation.

In December 2023, Netshidaulu was dismissed from LNW after a disciplinary hearing found him guilty of nine charges, including gross negligence, dereliction of duty, and dishonesty. 

One of the most serious charges stemmed from a payment of R5.6 million to Sefalafala’s FalazGeneral Trading & Construction, which Netshidaulu had authorized on 11 June 2020. This payment violated a board decision a week earlier that prohibited payments to contractors whose contracts were flagged and under investigation. Netshidaulu was also charged with failing to recover the funds made to Falaz.

LNW appointed Falaz General Trading & Construction in 2015 to provide waste management services. When the contract ended, LNW sought to renew the company’s contract under similar terms. However, a legal challenge from a competing company, Tshenolo Waste (Pty) Ltd, led the Polokwane High Court to declare the appointment unconstitutional and invalid and further ordered LNW to recover the funds paid to Falaz.

Following the disciplinary hearing and subsequent dismissal, Netshidaulu is challenging his sacking before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA).

In recent years, LWN has been in the news for the wrong reasons. On September 29, African Times previously reported that a legal battle was looming between LNW and Isiphethu Engineering after the Limpopo water utility terminated the company’s Giyani water project contract allegedly at the best of Dr Mphephu and a contractor over a payment dispute. 

According to a termination letter sent to Isiphethu Engineering,  LNW CEO Dr Cornelius Ruiters had claimed the consulting engineering company’s contract had lapsed four years ago even though he had signed at least four contract extension letters given to the company since 2021.

Netshidaulu has denied having signed one of the extension letters, saying one of the senior managers did so on his behalf.