An Eskom tender fraud conviction was secured in the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday, 18 August 2026, against a former buyer and several associates over an R8.5 million scheme.
Nozipho Ntuli, 39, was found guilty of fraud after the court heard she abused her position at the power utility to award tenders to companies linked to people in her inner circle between October 2016 and May 2019, as reported by IOL.
How the Eskom tender fraud conviction was reached
The prosecution established that the scheme moved R8 525 738 to three companies. Phoenix Motion Enterprise took R5.3 million, Hustle Hard Development took R2.2 million and Itireleng Masheleng took R913 000, all awarded through procurement processes that Ntuli was in a position to influence from inside the utility.
Ntuli’s role placed her inside the utility’s supply chain function, where she handled the sourcing and placement of orders with suppliers. The court accepted that she used that access to steer awards towards bidders she was connected to, rather than to companies that should have won on merit.
Edward Sekatane, Alfred Sekatane, a co-accused surnamed Mahlalela and the three companies were convicted of money laundering under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA), which criminalises dealing in property that a person knows, or ought reasonably to have known, formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activities.
Who investigated the Eskom tender fraud conviction
The investigation was led by the Hawks’ Secunda Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit, working alongside the Priority Crime Management Centre, the Priority Crime Specialised Investigation team and the National Prosecuting Authority. Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Magonseni Nkosi welcomed the verdict.
“This case shows that individuals who abuse positions of trust for personal gain will be pursued relentlessly.”
Specialised Commercial Crimes Courts operate as dedicated regional courts that hear complex financial cases prepared by the prosecuting authority’s commercial crimes unit. The model pairs prosecutors with investigators from the start of a docket, which is intended to shorten the lifespan of cases that turn on paper trails rather than eyewitnesses.
Eskom, the state-owned power utility, has been at the centre of successive procurement investigations over the past decade, with the Hawks and the prosecuting authority pursuing cases tied to supply chain irregularities at power stations across Mpumalanga.
Middelburg sits within that coal belt.
What happens at sentencing
Sentencing was postponed to Monday, 19 October 2026, when the court will hear arguments in aggravation and mitigation before deciding on an appropriate penalty.
Convictions under the organised crime legislation carry heavier maximum sentences than fraud alone, which gives the state room to argue for a custodial term.
Alongside sentencing, the Asset Forfeiture Unit is pursuing a restraint order against the assets of the convicted parties.
A restraint order freezes property so it cannot be sold or moved while the state builds a case to have it forfeited, meaning the financial reckoning may outlast the criminal one.
