POLITICS

Bathabile Dlamini & the middleman's mansion - amaBhungane

A new player in the SASSA saga is snuggling up to the minister's confidant

A shadowy middleman who connects Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini to grants contractor Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) has been living in a R65-million mansion courtesy of two directors from JSE-listed group EOH.

EOH, meanwhile, has scored at least R300-million in social development IT contracts and is positioning itself to become a central player in a future social grants distribution system.

The shadowy middleman is Lunga Ncwana, who once channelled late fraudster Brett Kebble’s millions to the ANC.

AmaBhungane previously revealed that Ncwana is in regular contact with minister Dlamini and is best friends with CPS’s BEE partner Brian Mosehla. CPS’s parent company, NET 1, handed Mosehla R83-million in cash in 2014, apparently in return for nothing.

Now Ncwana’s links to EOH underline concerns that he might be using his proximity to Dlamini to influence her decisions in favour of private businesses.

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