The Special Investigating Unit has secured a significant victory in its pursuit of those who looted the Covid-19 procurement system, after a Special Tribunal judge ordered the daughter of former ANC heavyweight and Water Affairs minister Nomvula Mokonyane and her business partner to personally repay millions of rands unlawfully obtained through pandemic-era personal protective equipment contracts.
Special Tribunal Judge David Makhoba delivered the ruling on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, finding that Katleho Mokonyane, 34, and her business partner Bonelela Mgudlwa, 43, who together own Tark Group, previously known as Tuwo Rhedesia, had acted fraudulently, dishonestly and improperly in securing two contracts from the Mpumalanga Department of Health in 2020. The contracts, one for surgical masks and another for protective medical jumpsuits, are collectively valued at more than R14 million.
Mgudlwa, who was previously romantically linked to Katleho before marrying radio and television personality Anele Mdoda in a lavish traditional wedding in the Eastern Cape last year, faces joint personal liability for the repayment alongside his business associate.
Judge Makhoba declared both contracts constitutionally invalid and unlawful, ordering that they be set aside and reviewed. He further found that the pair must personally repay the department all amounts due, piercing the corporate veil of their company and holding them directly accountable as directors who had conducted the affairs of the business in a fraudulent and improper manner.
“It is declared that as the directors of the third respondent, the fourth and fifth respondents acted fraudulently, dishonestly and improperly when they conducted and managed the affairs of the third respondent in respect of the impugned decision and impugned contract, and are held personally liable to pay to the department any and all amounts due and payable by the third respondent,” the judgment read.
The SIU’s investigation revealed a procurement process riddled with irregularities. According to investigators, officials within the Mpumalanga Department of Health appeared determined to channel the contracts exclusively to Tark, sending the request for quotation to the company alone and ensuring it faced no competition.
This was compounded by the fact that the department already had a qualified medical supplies contract in place, as well as other registered medical suppliers on its database, making the sole-sourcing of the contracts to Tark all the more difficult to justify.
Further undermining the legitimacy of the arrangement, investigators established that Tark was registered as a water supply, sewerage and waste management company with no experience in medical equipment and was not registered with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority as the law requires.
The Covid-19 PPE deal was not the first time the pair found themselves at the centre of a questionable government contract, having previously secured a R2.7 million soap supply deal with the Gauteng Department of Health in 2020. In both instances, Nomvula Mokonyane allegedly assisted them by paying some of their suppliers to help them fulfil their contractual obligations.
Katleho and Mgudlwa, through their legal representatives at Mtshabe Inc. Attorneys, indicated that they intend to challenge the judgment through a review or appeal process at the High Court, arguing among other things that the goods were delivered and the department raised no complaints about their quality. The pair were also ordered to cover the costs of the application, including the fees of senior legal counsel retained by the SIU to prosecute the matter.
