Tshwane security head admits payments could've been made to companies for work not done

The director of Tshwane’s asset protection security unit, Tshukudu Malatji, admitted to lapses of oversight and the possibility of paying out invoices for work not done.

Malatji was appearing before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry to testify on the Asset Protection Security (APS) unit, which he had led since 2013.

The unit was tasked with protecting the municipality's more than 500 critical infrastructure sites.

The unit regularly outsourced some of its functions to private security guards.

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However, the commission heard how this function had been abused by politically connected companies and led to the unit consistently exceeding its budget allocation.

An internal audit report in 2024 found the unit was not monitoring the sites being guarded by private security companies, as required.

Co-commissioner Sesi Baloyi put it to Malatji that there was no way of verifying whether the security companies were doing the work they were being paid for.

“I agree,” replied Malatji.

“You must accept that. You probably did pay some invoices when they probably shouldn’t have been paid,” said Baloyi.

“Probably yes, commissioner,” said Malatji.

Malatji said the unit did not have enough capacity to monitor all its sites.