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There’s been no requests from ‘Rooiwal five’ to reach settlement: City of Tshwane

Sowetan · · 678 words · By Jeanette Chabalala
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What to know about There’s been no requests from ‘Rooiwal five’ to reach settlement: City of Tshwane

The City of Tshwane says no requests have been made by five of its officials implicated in the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant saga to reach a settlement agreement.

Claims checked 15
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The City of Tshwane says no requests have been made by five of its officials implicated in the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant saga to reach a settlement agreement.

Why it matters

The officials were found to have irregularly awarded a R292m tender to a joint venture involving tender baron Edwin Sodi’s companies.

Common ground

On Wednesday the SIU told parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) that some of the officials approached the city for a settlement agreement and to have their services terminated.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.sowetan.co.za/news/2026-05-01-theres-been-no-requests-from-rooiwal-f…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 15 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6
schedule Pending 5
help Insufficient Evidence 2
report Misleading 1
info Single Source 1
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Claim 1: “The failed upgrade of the Rooiwal plant has been blamed for the deaths of more than 20 people in Hammanskraal during a cholera outbreak in 2023”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that the failure to fix the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant was linked to a cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal in 2023, resulting in deaths.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The N1 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Polokwane to Beit Bridge on the border with Zimbabwe. It forms the first section of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N1_(South_Africa)
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web search NEUTRAL — © 2023 Google LLC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIhx4-EAd4M
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web search NEUTRAL — In 2023, cholera exposed the failure to fix the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant in Hammanskraal, and fingers were pointed at tenderpreneur Edwin Sodi.
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-10-21-deadly-wa…
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 2: “However, a disciplinary hearing found them guilty on one charge out of four they were facing.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 3: “The officials made up the bid evaluation committee, which allowed Sodi’s companies — NJR Projects and Blackhead Consulting — to bid and win a R292m tender in a joint venture without meeting basic requirements.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that the officials formed the bid evaluation committee, which allowed Sodi’s companies (NJR Projects and Blackhead Consulting) to win the R292m tender in a joint venture without meeting basic requirements.
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web search NEUTRAL — The officials made up the bid evaluation committee, which allowed Sodi’s companies — NJR Projects and Blackhead Consulting — to bid and win a R292m tender in a joint venture without meeting basic requ…
https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2026-04-29-tshwane-offi…
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web search NEUTRAL — CMS Water Engineering, together with Sodi’s companies, NJR projects and Blackhead Consulting, formed part of a consortium that was awarded a tender to upgrade a water treatment plant meant to supply c…
https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/tshwane-high-court-sets-as…
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web search NEUTRAL — Blackhead Consulting’s director Edwin Sodi is on trial for his involvement in the R255-million asbestos audit scandal in the Free State probed by the Zondo Commission. National Treasury has yet to bla…
https://groundup.org.za/article/blackhead-consulting-still-n…
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Claim 4: “SIU acting head Leonard Lekhetho said their investigation had uncovered: - procurement irregularities and misrepresentations, resulting in the irregular appointment of the contractors; - fraudulent misrepresentations in the contractor’s bid; - fraudulent certification of records; - contraventions of CIDB regulations; - under-declaration of income by the contractor; - irregular expenditure of R147.8m incurred; as well as - non-compliance in respect of the performance bond.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was gathered for this claim index.
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Claim 5: “On Wednesday the SIU told parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) that some of the officials approached the city for a settlement agreement and to have their services terminated.”
CORROBORATED
The web search results corroborate the claim that the SIU informed Scopa that some of the implicated officials approached the city regarding a settlement agreement and termination of services.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Andrew Josef Feinstein ( FINE-steen; born 16 March 1964) is a South African former politician, economic advisor and investment banker, now activist, political consultant, filmmaker, campaigner and au…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Feinstein
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is a South African state insurer that provides liability and collision insurance coverage to all drivers in South Africa. RAF does not cover property damage (such as damag…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_Accident_Fund
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Vincent George Smith (born 18 July 1960) is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2019. In 2020, he was indicted on fraud…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Smith_(politician)
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “During the briefing in parliament, the unit said it has made 13 disciplinary hearing referrals in relation to Rooiwal. It has also referred six criminal cases involving 31 people to the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority.”
CORROBORATED
Two web search results provide nearly identical details regarding the SIU's referrals: 13 disciplinary hearing referrals and six criminal cases involving 31 people to the Hawks and NPA.
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web search NEUTRAL — During the briefing in parliament, the unit said it has made 13 disciplinary hearing referrals in relation to Rooiwal. It has also referred six criminal cases involving 31 people to the Hawks and the …
https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2026-04-29-tshwane-offi…
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web search NEUTRAL — The SIU has made three referrals for criminal investigations and three others for disciplinary action. According to Lekgetho, the SIU also found that the Mahikeng Municipality flouted the Municipal Ma…
https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2026-04-29-r11-billion-in-mu…
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web search NEUTRAL — The case saw 208 cases referred to the NPA and 174 Financial Intelligence Centre referrals, among other sanctions. Since 2012, the SIU has dealt with R1.1 billion worth of irregular municipal contract…
https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/heres-officials-…
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Claim 7: “The officials were found to have irregularly awarded a R292m tender to a joint venture involving tender baron Edwin Sodi's companies.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that the officials were implicated in irregularly awarding a tender of R292m to a joint venture involving Edwin Sodi's companies.
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web search NEUTRAL — Some of the five City of Tshwane officials found to have irregularly awarded a R292m tender to a joint venture involving tender baron Edwin Sodi’s companies approached the city to have their services …
https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2026-04-29-tshwane-offi…
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web search NEUTRAL — lead-art-block.fullscreen-enter. Expand. Edwin Sodi.Instead, the tender to upgrade the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant was awarded to corruption accused, ANC benefactor Edwin Sodi, whose consortium…
https://www.sowetan.co.za/news/south-africa/2023-05-24-sodi-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Five officials allegedly linked to the Rooiwaal tender have been suspended by the City of Tshwane. The municipality investigated the five officials after it emerged they were implicated in wrongdoing …
https://thepost.co.za/news/politics/five-officials-linked-to…
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Claim 8: “Lekgetho said 65 role players were also identified for high-level profiling, and of those, 27 officials were red-flagged for lifestyle analysis, and nine external parties were red-flagged for financial analysis of suspicious transactions.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 9: “Lekgetho said the referrals include: - one administrative referral to Sars which contains two companies for under-declaration of income & noncompliance; - one referral containing 17 administrative referrals to the Construction Industry Development Board for non-compliance - an administrative referral to the City of Tshwane for the National Treasury blacklisting process; and - one administrative referral to CIPC for delinquency declaration.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 10: “In November the labour court referred their disciplinary to a new independent chairperson after it found the process that led to them being found guilty on only one charge to be flawed.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
report
Claim 11: “The City of Tshwane says no requests have been made by five of its officials implicated in the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant saga to reach a settlement agreement.”
MISLEADING
The claim states that *no* requests were made. However, the web search results directly contradict this by reporting that some officials *did* approach the city for a settlement agreement and termination of services. The evidence suggests the claim is an oversimplification or misrepresentation of the situation, making it misleading.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Solar power in South Africa includes photovoltaics (PV) as well as concentrated solar power (CSP). As of July 2024, South Africa had 2,287 MW of installed utility-scale PV solar power capacity in its…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_South_Africa
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of suburbs in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, which includes the city of Pretoria and its surrounding suburbs and exurbs. Pretoria/Tshwane is divided into 7 regions namel…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pretoria_suburbs
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Rooiwal Power Station is a 300-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant near Pretoria in Gauteng, South Africa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooiwal_Power_Station
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 12: “The contract was terminated by the city because of poor performance.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim is a general statement about contract termination due to poor performance. While the web search results confirm multiple instances of contract termination due to poor performance (e.g., BMC, Karachi Red Line, Ludhiana Smart City), they do not specifically link a termination of the Rooiwal contract to poor performance in a way that confirms the claim's context. Therefore, based on the evidence provided, it is difficult to confirm this specific claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently terminated the contract of Roadway Solutions India Infra Ltd (RSIIL), a company responsible for concretizing 212 roads in Mumbai's island city.
https://www.mumbailive.com/en/infrastructure/bmc-terminates-…
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web search NEUTRAL — The contract for Lot 2 of the Karachi Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project has officially been terminated due to persistent delays and unsatisfactory performance by the contractor.
https://soontimes.pk/karachi-red-line-brt-lot2-contract-term…
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web search NEUTRAL — She stated that due to poor performance of Tata Company, several areas in the city have non functional streetlights, which is causing inconvenience to the public.The councillors asked Sanyam Aggarwal,…
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ludhiana/due-to-non…
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Claim 13: “The city has been pushing for the dismissal of the employees since a forensic report found they ignored red flags, which would have eliminated Sodi’s companies from the bidding process.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 14: “During the briefing in parliament, the unit said it has made 13 disciplinary hearing referrals in relation to Rooiwal. It has also referred six criminal cases involving 31 people to the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was gathered for this claim index.
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Claim 15: “The implicated officials are: - Thembeka Mphefu, the divisional head of supply chain management; - Frans Manganye, the divisional head of electricity planning and development; - Stephens Notoane, the group head of utility services; - Justice Sekokotla, the director of the electricity department; and - Dumisani Gubuza, the divisional head of water and sanitation.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results list the names and roles of the five implicated officials, confirming the list provided in the claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — The five implicated officials have been on paid suspension since April last year pending the finalisation of an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit.
https://iol.co.za/news/south-africa/2025-01-20-samwu-support…
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web search NEUTRAL — The implicated officials are Thembeka Mphefu, divisional head of supply chain management; Frans Manganye, divisional head of electricity planning and development; Stephens Notoane, group head of utili…
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-03-25-tsh…
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web search NEUTRAL — The other four officials are Stephens Notoane, group head of water and sanitation; Justice Sekokotla, director of electrification; Dumisani Gubuza, divisional head of water and sanitation; and Frans M…
https://www.citizen.co.za/business/ghost-of-rooiwal-continue…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.