Limpopo ANC Chief Whip Essob Mokgonyana allegedly orchestrated a campaign against suspended Secretary of the Legislature, Dr Tim Maake, to protect senior officials implicated in fraud and corruption estimated at R136 million. 

According to sources within the Legislature and the provincial ANC, Mokgonyana wanted Maake removed to prevent him from implementing the recommendations of a damning forensic report that found that senior managers allegedly siphoned off huge sums of taxpayers’ money between 2019 and 2024. 

The said officials from the finance and IT departments are said to have created and paid fictitious companies, then deleted data records from the Legislature’s accounting and information technology systems. 

Last week, Speaker of the Limpopo Legislature, Dr Makoma Makhurupetje, placed Maake on precautionary suspension pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of misconduct levelled against him in the media. The one-month suspension will lapse on July 31, said sources, but may be extended should the report recommend a disciplinary hearing against him. 

They further claimed Mokgonyana was behind a “smear campaign” that triggered the suspension after Maake started implementing some of the recommendations of the forensic report by Talane and Associates Attorneys. 

They said Maake’s troubles began after he instituted disciplinary hearings and laid criminal charges against several employees implicated in the theft of public funds. He also asked the banks to help trace the companies and individuals who benefited. 

The implicated officials include Norman Makomana; the Legislature’s Manager for the Financial Accounting Section; Information Technology Manager Vutomi Makhubele; former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sharon Angela Segomotso Phatudi; systems controller Adam Selepe; former Secretary of the Limpopo Legislature, Simon Mothoa; his successor and former acting Secretary, Dr Isaac Nkuna; and Acquisition Officer Thelma Phoshoko. 

According to sources, Makomana and Makhubele have since been fired. A case of fraud has been opened against Phoshoko, while disciplinary hearings against other officials are ongoing. Phatudi resigned allegedly after being questioned about the looted funds.

“There’s nothing wrong he has done except that they want to block the implementation of the recommendations of the forensic investigation. Maake has already suspended about six officials; one was reinstated, and five were still going through the disciplinary hearing, two have been fired, and three are still outstanding. And some of them, the findings of the forensic investigation came long after he had suspended them. As I speak now, as part of the implementation, a criminal case was opened against an employee [Thelma Phoshoko] who got employment in 2016 while she had a criminal case,” said one source. 

“They got to know about it in January 2025 when she submitted an expungement report, whereas she did not confirm that she had a criminal case in 2016 on her application form. The intention of the smear campaign is to try and frustrate Maake from applying disciplinary measures against employees that would have been found to have done wrong. And secondly, it is to try and frustrate the implementation of the recommendations emanating from the forensic investigation, which was completed this year in March 2026,” the source added. 

Moreover, sources claimed Mokgonyana sought to protect the implicated officials for various reasons. Some allegedly did his bidding in the supply chain management unit and awarded tenders to his preferred companies, while others, such as Phoshoko, had personal relationships with him. Mokgonyana and Phoshoko are allegedly in a romantic relationship. 

Mokgonyana rejected all the allegations levelled against him, saying he had nothing to do with Maake’s suspension. He denied protecting implicated officials or benefiting from tenders they awarded. Mokgonyana said he was aware of allegations circulating that he was in a romantic relationship with Phoshoko, but insisted “that is not true”.

“I’m not in a relationship, and I don’t even have a child with Thelma Phoshoko. That is very damaging to my reputation. Those who are saying that must give you proof. That is not true. That’s number one. 

“The second issue, I do not employ people at the Legislature. I’m very, very, very far from the Secretary and the Speaker to employ people. I’m entangled in things that I’m not aware of. It’s the Secretary who employs people there,” Mokgonyana said.  

He confirmed that he knew Mabote but denied recommending him for appointment as the Limpopo Legislature CFO. 

“And, yeah, I know Jake Mabote. He is not my friend. I just know him because he’s from Botlokwa. I’m saying, I’m not even so sure that he’s from Botlokwa. I’m saying I’m not a friend to Jake Mabote. I just know Mabote because he has worked at Blouberg and other municipalities. I think at Blouberg and Molemole. But I did not, and I do not recommend anybody for employment. I am a politician. I do not deal with employment. I’m very far from recruitment of the legislature,” Mokgonyana maintained. 

Phoshoko, a mother of two who lost her husband in a car accident in 2021, said she was “shocked and surprised” by allegations she was in a romantic relationship with Mokgonyana. She was also unaware of any fraud case against her. 

“I’m very junior, and the people you are talking to are seniors to me. I am not even a politician. I’m denying everything. I’m shocked and surprised because I don’t know how my name was listed there. We were all surprised yesterday when we heard that our secretary has been suspended.”

“I don’t know of any fraud case that has been opened against me. I can assure you that I’m not in a relationship with the chief whip; in fact, I don’t have a boyfriend. With child issues, I cannot have a child with someone I’m not in a relationship with,” Phoshoko concluded.

Another source, a senior ANC politician, added that Mokgonyana had told some of his fellow comrades that Maake had to be removed because he was “closing the tap” in the Legislature. 

“He said since Tim’s arrival, he had been sitting on the Legislature budget, and they are now unable to do what they used to in the past. So, the suspension is premeditated. We heard rumours about it late last year. That’s why they are protecting employees who have been found to have committed financial misconduct, deleting records, and they want them back at work. But those transactions are still under investigation, and the Legislature wants to know where did the money go,” the second source said. 

A third source said Maake’s decision to implement the recommendations of the forensic report was the final straw for Mokgonyana and his group. “He touched a nerve. The Talane report uncovered a lot of things that benefited some people. That’s why they would want [to bring back] people who made sure they benefited. But this is taxpayers’ money. It needs to be protected. Apparently, they picked up that he might suspend the new CFO [Jack Mabote],” the third source reiterated. 

Mabote, who replaced Phatudi as the CEO of the Limpopo Legislature, was allegedly recommended by Mokgonyana for the job and they hail from the same area. Sources within the Legislature said Mabote’s relationship with Mokgonyana was the reason he failed to take action against Phoshoko, who reports to him, despite a fraud case having been opened against her at the Lebowakgomo Police Station.  

Mabote could not be reached for comment and failed to respond to questions sent via WhatsApp. 

Makomana confirmed he had been fired as the Manager for Financial Accounting. He described his expulsion as a flawed exercise fit to be taken to court and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

“What I can tell you is the investigations that they have performed. The people, they don’t know what they’re doing. They’re actually a new leadership. So, when they come, they just do the investigation because they want their own people. So, they just came with a report. They don’t even know how to calculate. So, they just throw numbers that they don’t even know where they’re coming from.

“I can tell you with my charges, they’re just funny. They’re saying accruals were not accounted for. They’re saying I didn’t take instructions. That’s why I’m saying they just invented the report. And that report, I’ve never seen it. So, with my charges, they’re just lame charges,” Makomana said. 

He said he would challenge the Talane report. 

“I’ll take it up with the court and CCMA. Every year when you prepare the financial statement, there’s something called roll forward. When you roll forward the books, it comes with the opening balances. When the AG audits, they start auditing by opening balances. So, every year we have financial statements.”

“For the past five years we’ve been having financial statements. So, when they are saying the books were not closed, what do they mean? It’s bad, my brother, it’s bad. People talk about something that they don’t even understand.”

“I mean, in accounting, there’s something called prior period error. If there’s an error in the previous year, you are allowed to make a prior period error. It’s a ground theory of generally accepted accounting practice. They don’t know those things. I mean, in the past five years, if the books were not closed. If the books were not closed, was the AG going to give us a clean audit? Because we got five clean audits. And then someone with a degree of law wants to lecture me in accounting,” Makomana added. 

Makhubele said she was not aware of her firing for alleged fraud and corruption. The Malamulele-born IT specialist claimed she was on sick leave.

“This news has not yet come to me. I don’t know that I have been expelled from the legislature. I’m very shocked. The person who told you this story maybe knows something I don’t. I hear this thing for the first time. I’m currently not reporting for work because I’m on sick leave; that is why you shocked me. What I know is that I’m on sick leave and not that I was fired,” Makhubele said.

Maake said: “Yes, I am suspended. I will await the investigation by the employer, and I will only be able to talk once the investigation has been completed.” 

Andries Lekalakala, spokesperson to the Limpopo Legislature, was not available for comment on the matter.