Two suspects have appeared in court and have been remanded in custody until their next appearance on14 July.
The department of human settlements has condemned the attempt to silence an official acting against corruption in RDP allocations. Picture: iStock
The Gauteng department of human settlements has temporarily halted housing allocations in the Ekurhuleni regional office after an official was allegedly targeted in an assassination plot for blocking corruption.
Two men, including the department’s administrative clerk, appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with a plot to kill the official for allegedly stopping the illegal sale of government-subsidised RDP and Breaking New Ground houses.
Investigation leads to arrests
Thulani Ndwandwe, 49, and Tonia Hlongwane, 48, were arrested last week after an intensive investigation initiated in 2024.
The probe started after the official at the department’s Alberton regional office complained she was a target of hitmen after actively trying to block internal corruption activities.
She told investigators that suspected hitmen monitored her movements between her workplace and home, that she received repeated death threats and that shots were fired at her residence.
The investigation by the Hawks’ East Rand Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit culminated in coordinated operations across Mpumalanga and Gauteng on 2 July.
Ndwandwe was nabbed in Dundonald, Mpumalanga, where police seized several licensed firearms and ammunition.
These have been sent for forensic examination to determine whether they are linked to the alleged assassination plot, or other offences.
Investigators then moved to the department of human settlements’ offices in Alberton, where Hlongwane, the clerk, was arrested with the assistance of the Germiston Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation and the Gauteng Traffic Police High Priority Crimes and Internal Affairs Unit.
Investigators seized firearms, including an AK47 assault rifle, ammunition, laptops and cellphones in the investigation.
Department tightens controls
The department has condemned the attempt to silence an official acting against corruption.
“The department condemns, in the strongest terms, the intimidation, threats and violence directed at the affected official,” spokesperson Tahir Sema said.
He said the department has placed a temporary hold on housing allocations and subsidy approvals processed through its Ekurhuleni regional office, pending an internal audit, to protect the integrity of the housing waiting list and subsidy allocation system.
Sema said disciplinary processes against Hlongwane would proceed alongside the criminal case.
The department also announced it would ramp up internal controls at the affected office.
Sema added that the department encourages any official or member of the public with information on corruption in the housing allocation system to come forward.
Probe widens into possible syndicate
Investigators are now expected to determine whether the alleged assassination plot formed part of a broader criminal network involving officials, external facilitators or syndicates operating within the housing system.
Forensic analysis of the seized firearms and the examination of laptops and cellphones confiscated during the raids, is expected to assist investigators in establishing the extent of the alleged conspiracy and identifying any additional suspects.
Ndwandwe and Hlongwane were remanded in custody and will be back in court on Tuesday, 14 July.
