Pretoria – Former Denel senior officials – Lungisani Daniel Mantsha and Zwelakhe Nhlanganiso Ntshepe – have appeared before the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court to face fraud and corruption charges.
The pair, who were arrested by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), appeared in court on Friday, (28 March 2025).
Former officials Mantsha and Ntshepehey are accused of the irregular approval and establishment of the Denel Asia Joint Venture.
They allegedly signed the venture without following due process and further misrepresented facts to the ministers that the deal was not yet signed, while it was.
The alleged irregular joint venture is a formation between VR Laser South Africa (VRLSA) and Denel Asia, which is a private company registered in Hong Kong.
Denel is a 51% shareholder in Denel Asia, while VRLSA holds 49%.
They purported VRLSA to be the only suitable business entity that met all the legislative requirements to enter into a Shareholders Agreement with Denel, a South African government entity.
At the time of the commission of the alleged offence, Mantsha was a Non-Executive Director and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Denel, and Ntshepe was the Acting Group Chief Executive Officer.
Ntshepe was later appointed to the position permanently.
The offences, which include corruption, fraud, and contravention of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act, contravention of the Public Finance Management Act, and contravention of the Companies Act, were allegedly committed between March March 2014 and March 2018.
“They allegedly disregarded a directive by the Minister of Finance stipulating that all transactions relating to Denel (SA) should be subjected to the minister’s approval as well as the approval from the Ministry of Public Enterprises,” explained IDAC Spokesperson Henry Mamothame.
“This was following the finance minister issuing a guarantee to Denel (SA) in the amount of R1.8 billion.
“They further stand accused of receiving gratification for their alleged involvement in facilitating the deal.”
Mamothame said it was further discovered that confidential information relating to the affairs of the Board of Directors was disclosed between July 2014 and May 2016.
“There were also further discoveries of disregard for the PFMA stipulations by allegedly awarding bursaries without the required authority to do so.”
Both accused Mantsha and Ntshepe were granted R30 000 bail each before their matter was adjourned to 16 May 2025 for disclosures.
“The court ordered them to surrender their passports and not apply for new ones,” the IDAC Spokesperson said.
“They were further ordered to make an application with the court to amend the bail conditions l, should a need arise for them to travel outside the country.”
