amaBhungane

22/10/2025

Opinions remain divided on now-deceased CMS Water boss Rudolf Schoeman Jnr, who partnered with Edwin Sodi on the Rooiwal project. Some see him as a maverick, others “the biggest bullsh*tter” they’d ever met.

Read our DEADLY WATER investigation here:https://amabhungane.org/deadly-water-the-life-and-death-of-a-tenderpreneur-part-1/

Listen to amaBhungane’s first investigative podcast: DEADLY WATER https://soundcloud.com/user-739601330/deadly-water-ep-1-the-life-and-death-of-a-tenderpreneur/s-aBkrQNjdFmr?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing&si=b64850db617c40f58956dcf4ca19e20e

21/10/2025

Do we know the real story behind the collapse of the R291-million Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant project? Was Edwin Sodi conned by his now-deceased business partner, as he has always claimed? AmaBhungane went digging.

Read our DEADLY WATER investigation; https://amabhungane.org/deadly-water-the-life-and-death-of-a-tenderpreneur-part-1/

Or listen to our first PODCAST: https://soundcloud.com/user-739601330/deadly-water-ep-1-the-life-and-death-of-a-tenderpreneur/s-aBkrQNjdFmr?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing&si=a39508f1124845e591660c92517447bc

20/10/2025

Edwin Sodi could soon be blacklisted from government contracts for failing to fix the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant, which was suspected of having a hand in the deadly 2023 cholera outbreak.

Sodi has always claimed he was conned by his deceased business partner, Rudolf Schoeman Jnr. But was there some truth to the allegation?

Tomorrow we launch amaBhungane’s first podcast: DEADLY WATER.

01/10/2025

We’re proud to share that amaBhungane has been shortlisted among the top five entries for the AIJC 2025 African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award.

https://aijc.africa/top-five-entries-announced-for-aijcs-2025-african-investigative-journalist-of-the-year-award/

Two of our major investigations made the list: Scam Empire and The : City of Gold.

The : City of Gold: Money laundering is the engine that powers organised crime, hiding in plain sight. Our series cuts through the secrecy and legal grey zones to reveal how dirty money is washed and laundered into legitimacy.

https://amabhungane.org/category/thelaundry/

: In collaboration with international partners, we exposed a vast Israel-based syndicate running dozens of fraudulent trading platforms worldwide — exploiting victims across borders with industrial-scale precision.

AmaBhungane is part of an international consortium of journalists who have gained access to a colossal leak of data from within one such operation, an astonishing and highly organised multinational syndicate simultaneously operating dozens of platforms around the world. Its tentacles spread from the

30/09/2025

ADVOCACY: On 29 September, the hosted an event to commemorate the International Day for Universal Access to Information, titled “Reflecting on 25 years of the Access to Information law and making it fit for purpose in the digital age”.

In an opening address, Mfana Gwala from , highlighted that, 25 years ago, the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) had been “born out of bold vision to empower citizens, hold institutions accountable and nurture a culture of openness”.

Gwala added that “democracy thrives when the truth is accessible and secrecy when unchecked corrodes the public’s trust”, and warned that our world is very different to the world in which PAIA was adopted, with data, misinformation and algorithms shaping what we read and believe.

Gwala stressed that “the tools of transparency must evolve or risk becoming obsolete” and that we must reimagine what access to information means in the digital age. First, we need a broader definition of “information” to include digital communications and algorithms.

Second, we need real accessibility for ordinary citizens to navigate information. Third, we must protect the “integrity of information” and authenticity and public bodies “must not only release data, they must explain it, defend it and stand by it”.

Fourth, we must rethink timelines for access because in the digital age waiting a month for information “undermines the very spirit of the law”, and we need to “embrace proactive disclosure and hold agencies accountable for unjustifiable secrecy”.

Finally, Gwala said we must empower the next generation of digital natives to equip them “not just with access but with digital literacy, the ability to question, verify and act”. He called on us to “make transparency a living value, not just a legal provision”.

We firmly endorse Gwala’s sentiments and remain committed to fighting for real effective access to information to enable us to hold the powerful – in the public and private sectors – to account. We reject the culture of secrecy that’s so prevalent in our society and demand better

We are proud that the Information Regulator presented us with a certificate of recognition for “outstanding efforts in advancing access to information and promoting transparency and accountability.”

12/09/2025

What has our flirtation with Russia’s Gazprombank cost us?

Rough guess: R500m a year to keep the Mossel Bay refinery in care & maintenance. PetroSA issued RFP0001 in Jan 2022, it’ll likely be Jan 2026 before we issue another tender which puts the cost at ±R2-BILLION.

The gas-to-liquids refinery has been closed since Nov 2020 when it ran out of feedstock (gas / condensate). PetroSA is desperate to restart the refinery, partly because it’ll need to spend R10-BILLION on rehabilitation costs if the refinery is permanently closed.
https://amabhungane.org/petrosa-pushes-for-r3-7bn-deal-with-russia/

By Nov 2025, we will have spent R2.5bn dithering, largely because PetroSA relied on vague undertakings by Gazprombank that it would fund the project. The board had even warned PetroSA that the Russians were tough negotiators, which could delay the project:
Read: https://amabhungane.org/petrosas-deal-with-russia-implodes/

Gazprombank won the tender after 19 out of 20 other bidders were eliminated for technical reasons. An internal audit investigation concluded that Gazprombank should have scored 40 points out of 100 and been eliminated:

Read: https://amabhungane.org/petrosas-deal-with-russia-implodes/

The R3.7bn Gazprombank deal was one of three toxic deals concluded by then-COO Sesakho Magadla, who is now PetroSA’s acting CEO.

Toxic deal #2: Equator Holdings was liquidated for failing to pay a soccer player:
https://amabhungane.org/own-goal-petrosas-multi-billion-rand-offshore-gas-deal-thwarted-by-unpaid-soccer-player/

Toxic deal #3: the EquaTheza deal was cancelled by new CEO Xolile Sizani – because they failed to deliver funding – before he was suspended and replaced by Magadla: https://amabhungane.org/the-deal-that-got-petrosas-ceo-suspended/

The DA has called for an inquest into the failed Gazprombank deal. PetroSA’s internal audit team has already produced a damning report on the tender, which was inexplicably labelled “Top Secret” and has never seen the light of day.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-09-11-gazprombanks-involvement-with-mossel-bay-refinery-officially-finish-and-klaar/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=business_maverick&mle=

07/09/2025

“Some of the crimes were reported to the SAPS as far back as 2021. The odds of the SAPS finding evidence implicating those involved now, more than four years later, are slim.” – Intercape

https://amabhungane.org/bus-driver-arrest-deepens-intercape-and-taxi-violence-row/

Bus company Intercape says that since 2021, it has handed over mountains of evidence to the police and reported 200 attacks and acts of intimidation against its bus drivers, allegedly by the taxi industry.

Despite this, no one has been convicted for the attacks.

How bad are the cops at doing their job when taxi bosses are involved? On 12 Feb, we reported the High Court skewered police over their failure to investigat...

05/09/2025

AmaB’s investigative journalist Azarrah Karrim will be speaking at the Annual ACFE Africa Conference along with News24’s Kyle Cowan and Sipho Masondo. They will be speaking about protecting sources while still retrieving the facts. Registration closes today, tickets online.

05/09/2025

“Experience over the past five years shows repeated cycles of relative calm, followed by sudden spikes in both frequency and severity of attacks. There is currently no plan in place to anticipate and neutralise these spikes as they arise.” – Intercape

https://amabhungane.org/bus-driver-arrest-deepens-intercape-and-taxi-violence-row/

Since 2021, Intercape reported nearly 200 incidents of attacks and intimidation against its buses. Police claim to be aware of only 76 cases: 14 were withdrawn and 33 closed as undetected.

In 2024, the Eastern Cape High Court ruled that police had failed to properly investigate ongoing attacks against Intercape busses as organised crime.

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We develop investigative journalism. We expose wrongdoing. We hold power to account. Through our exposés, advocacy and advancement of investigative journalism, we have contributed to positive change and political accountability.

03/09/2025

On 19 June, an Intercape bus driver was arrested in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape after refusing to hand over his bus to traffic officers while passengers were still on board. His crime? Failing to pay a R2500 spot fine for offloading passengers outside the Total Garage.

https://amabhungane.org/bus-driver-arrest-deepens-intercape-and-taxi-violence-row/

Days earlier, taxi operators in Ngcobo blocked Intercape buses and refused to let them load passengers. When questioned by police, they claimed Intercape was transporting passengers without tickets.

Intercape says that these are not isolated incidents but part of a pattern of the authorities failing to stop intimidation of drivers and attacks on buses – or worse, intervening to benefit the taxi industry.

In 2024, the High Court found that the police to failed to investigate attacks on long-distance buses as organised crime.

Since 2021 Intercape has reported nearly 200 incidents to police. In May, police told Parliament they only had 22 cases under investigation.

How bad are the cops at doing their job when taxi bosses are involved? On 12 Feb, we reported the High Court skewered police over their failure to investigat...

29/08/2025

RAIDS ON GUPTAS’ MONEY LAUNDERING NETWORK

Indian authorities have carried out raids in three cities to seize evidence linked to the Guptas’ money laundering network.

Indian media are reporting that the raids on World Window Group were requested by South African authorities.

AmaBhungane and Scorpio exposed World Window Group role in State Capture in 2018.

Evidence unearthed in the showed how World Window Group and JJ Trading – another company targeted in the raids – helped the Guptas launder the alleged kickbacks on the Transnet 1064 locomotive deal.

https://amabhungane.org/guptaleaks-meet-the-money-launderers/

World Window also played a crucial role in the Nulane and Vrede diary scams: In 2011, World Window – a scrap metal dealer – allegedly sent a letter to the Free State Department of Agriculture saying it wanted to invest R500-million in a dairy project – but only if the Department paid a Gupta-linked company, Nulane, to do a due diligence.

https://amabhungane.org/guptaleaks-kpmg-missed-more-money-laundering-red-flags/

The Nulane due diligence unlocked the R280-milliomn Vrede diary project, which was ultimately used to fund the Guptas’ lavish Sun City wedding.

https://amabhungane.org/guptaleaks-the-dubai-laundromat-how-millions-milked-from-free-state-government-paid-for-sun-city-wedding/

The raids are likely a sign that the NPA is getting ready to re-enrol the Nulane case. But the evidence seized as part of the raids in New Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad could be crucial for other State Capture cases.

It’s estimated that the Guptas – and their laundry machine – moved R15-billion out of South Africa, mostly from Transnet and Eskom contracts.

https://shadowworldinvestigations.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/SWI_Zondo_Submission_Gupta_Enterprise_Transnet.pdf

Evidence presented at the Zondo Commission set out how the Gupta network entered into 11 alleged kickbacks contracts with companies like China’s state-owned railed company, CRRC.

World Window Group was described as “the first laundromat” and allegedly received 15% of every kickback it laundered.

Revealed: What the Guptas did to earn their kickbacks.

29/08/2025

Statement: AmaBhungane Condemns the Killing of Palestinian Journalists and Attack on Media Freedom

As journalists and a media organisation we have watched with increasing dismay and anger as journalists have been targeted and killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

We join in condemning the most recent attacks that killed five journalists at the Nasser Hospital and calling for those responsible to be held accountable.

As the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented, at least 197 journalists and media workers have been killed in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Lebanon between 2023 and 2025.

The Geneva Conventions – the international humanitarian law governing the laws of war – confers special protection on journalists and international human rights law categorises the killing of journalists as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

International law also places obligations on other states to hold those committing war crimes accountable.

In addition to condemning the action of Israel, we decry the lack of action taken by the international community to hold the Israeli officials responsible for these killings to account.

Journalists play a vital role in society to document abuses and to hold those in power to account. As Israel continues to deny international journalists access to Gaza, the killing of Palestinian journalists serves to silence reporting on Israel’s genocidal conduct in the war and creation of a deliberate famine.

Without an independent media able to report freely and safely, the documentation of wartime atrocities and starvation is sabotaged.

We mourn our colleagues killed by Israeli strikes and offer our condolences to their family, friends and community. We also grieve for the impact these deaths and lack of accountability have on media freedom in the world.