amaBhungane
@amabhungane.bsky.social
Investigative journalism in the public interest. Digging dung, fertilising democracy. http://amabhungane.org
Read the investigation 🤳: https://amabhungane.org/category/deadly-water/
Or listen to the Deadly Water podcast 🎧– told by the journalists who did the digging – on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4I0twT5MtcOxFIJZES6w2Z?si=af640d5b19dd4eb6
Or Soundcloud:
Or listen to the Deadly Water podcast 🎧– told by the journalists who did the digging – on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4I0twT5MtcOxFIJZES6w2Z?si=af640d5b19dd4eb6
Or Soundcloud:
amaBhungane
Listen to amaBhungane | SoundCloud is an audio platform that lets you listen to what you love and share the sounds you create.
soundcloud.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Read the investigation 🤳: https://amabhungane.org/category/deadly-water/
Or listen to the Deadly Water podcast 🎧– told by the journalists who did the digging – on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4I0twT5MtcOxFIJZES6w2Z?si=af640d5b19dd4eb6
Or Soundcloud:
Or listen to the Deadly Water podcast 🎧– told by the journalists who did the digging – on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4I0twT5MtcOxFIJZES6w2Z?si=af640d5b19dd4eb6
Or Soundcloud:
Outside the municipalities’ locked gates, a local resident who was interviewed by SABC described the town’s water facilities as “the ATM of these guys”, adding: “They need to go to Rooigrond prison and serve a jail term.”
Ngaka Modiri Molema Municipality | Search and seizure operations: Athlenda Mathe
Operations were halted at the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality in Mahikeng in the North West, due to a raid by law enforcement officers today. Polic...
www.youtube.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Outside the municipalities’ locked gates, a local resident who was interviewed by SABC described the town’s water facilities as “the ATM of these guys”, adding: “They need to go to Rooigrond prison and serve a jail term.”
Last month, police raided the municipality’s offices and seized cellphones and laptops of officials as part of an investigation into corruption, fraud and maladministration.
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Last month, police raided the municipality’s offices and seized cellphones and laptops of officials as part of an investigation into corruption, fraud and maladministration.
A few months later, CMS and NJR Projects – owned by tenderpreneur Edwin Sodi – were kicked off the R291-million Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant project outside Hammanskraal as well.
DEADLY WATER: The life and death of a tenderpreneur (Part 1)
amabhungane.org
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
A few months later, CMS and NJR Projects – owned by tenderpreneur Edwin Sodi – were kicked off the R291-million Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant project outside Hammanskraal as well.
Both projects – critical for dealing with the ballooning sewage problem in Zeerust and Sannieshof – should have been completed by 2021. Instead, court records show that CMS Water received at least R49-million before both projects were cancelled in 2022.
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Both projects – critical for dealing with the ballooning sewage problem in Zeerust and Sannieshof – should have been completed by 2021. Instead, court records show that CMS Water received at least R49-million before both projects were cancelled in 2022.
Amongst CMS staff members, there were whispers that the Sannieshof and Zeerust projects had something to do with a home renovation project allegedly carried out for an official from the Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality.
Deadly Water: The dominos fall
In November 2023, one of our journalists, Aisha Abdool Karim, took a drive down to Zeerust: “As soon as you entered the town, like, literally as you drive in...
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Amongst CMS staff members, there were whispers that the Sannieshof and Zeerust projects had something to do with a home renovation project allegedly carried out for an official from the Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality.
The Zeerust wastewater treatment plant was one of two tenders awarded to CMS Water in 2019. The other was the R50-million upgrade to the Sannieshof wastewater treatment plant.
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
The Zeerust wastewater treatment plant was one of two tenders awarded to CMS Water in 2019. The other was the R50-million upgrade to the Sannieshof wastewater treatment plant.
The reason we went to Zeerust was to look at the wastewater treatment plant, which was supposed to be upgraded by CMS Water Engineering at a cost of R129-million, but which instead lay partially abandoned.
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
The reason we went to Zeerust was to look at the wastewater treatment plant, which was supposed to be upgraded by CMS Water Engineering at a cost of R129-million, but which instead lay partially abandoned.
When one of our journalists visited the Zeerust wastewater treatment plant in November 2023, she found Ziggy’s workers doing maintenance.
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
When one of our journalists visited the Zeerust wastewater treatment plant in November 2023, she found Ziggy’s workers doing maintenance.
Although Carrim is based in Mahikeng, his business interests stretch out into these small towns: Ziggy Investments has received contracts from the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality to provide water tankers and construction equipment, and to drill boreholes and build water pipes.
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Although Carrim is based in Mahikeng, his business interests stretch out into these small towns: Ziggy Investments has received contracts from the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality to provide water tankers and construction equipment, and to drill boreholes and build water pipes.
Carrim is perceived as being a powerful figure in the North West. But on paper, his job is far more modest: treasurer of the ANC for the Ngaka Modiri Molema region, which includes the province’s capital, Mahikeng, and smaller towns like Zeerust and Sannieshof.
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Carrim is perceived as being a powerful figure in the North West. But on paper, his job is far more modest: treasurer of the ANC for the Ngaka Modiri Molema region, which includes the province’s capital, Mahikeng, and smaller towns like Zeerust and Sannieshof.
If you’ve been watching the Madlanga Commission, you’ll be familiar with Suleiman Carrim, a prominent ANC member and businessman from Mahikeng. Witnesses allege that Carrim benefited from a R360-million SAPS tender awarded to a company belonging to kingpin and murder accused Vusi ‘Cat’ Matlala.
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
If you’ve been watching the Madlanga Commission, you’ll be familiar with Suleiman Carrim, a prominent ANC member and businessman from Mahikeng. Witnesses allege that Carrim benefited from a R360-million SAPS tender awarded to a company belonging to kingpin and murder accused Vusi ‘Cat’ Matlala.
But the sewage crisis in Sannieshof isn’t a local problem – it connects a much wider network of power, politics and graft in North West.
November 22, 2025 at 8:02 AM
But the sewage crisis in Sannieshof isn’t a local problem – it connects a much wider network of power, politics and graft in North West.
Listen to the podcast 🎧 on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ybYeYF9jGBGtMuAMJWqlr?si=vaV__uG6SSiRssOy2WF65A
Or SoundCloud:
Or SoundCloud:
DEADLY WATER Ep.5: A zombie in the water industry
Rudolf Schoeman Jnr built a R2-billion empire off the back of the country’s crumbling water infrastructure. By 2022, CMS Water Engineering was itself imploding as contracts were cancelled, and angry b
soundcloud.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Listen to the podcast 🎧 on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ybYeYF9jGBGtMuAMJWqlr?si=vaV__uG6SSiRssOy2WF65A
Or SoundCloud:
Or SoundCloud:
This is the fifth and final part of amaBhungane’s investigation:
DEADLY WATER: a zombie in the water industry.
Read the investigation 🤳:
DEADLY WATER: a zombie in the water industry.
Read the investigation 🤳:
DEADLY WATER (Part 5): A zombie in the water industry
amabhungane.org
November 19, 2025 at 6:02 AM
This is the fifth and final part of amaBhungane’s investigation:
DEADLY WATER: a zombie in the water industry.
Read the investigation 🤳:
DEADLY WATER: a zombie in the water industry.
Read the investigation 🤳:
Although Rudolf’s company, CMS Water Engineering, was imploding and his government contracts had been cancelled or ceded to other companies to complete, Rudolf still believed he could wheel and deal his way out of trouble.
November 19, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Although Rudolf’s company, CMS Water Engineering, was imploding and his government contracts had been cancelled or ceded to other companies to complete, Rudolf still believed he could wheel and deal his way out of trouble.
One of the few photos we have was taken on 19 December 2022, the night of the ANC elective conference. Cyril Ramaphosa had just been re-elected and in the photo, Rudolf is celebrating with other ANC members.
November 19, 2025 at 6:02 AM
One of the few photos we have was taken on 19 December 2022, the night of the ANC elective conference. Cyril Ramaphosa had just been re-elected and in the photo, Rudolf is celebrating with other ANC members.
Listen to the podcast 🎧 on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ybYeYF9jGBGtMuAMJWqlr?si=vaV__uG6SSiRssOy2WF65A
Or SoundCloud:
Or SoundCloud:
DEADLY WATER Ep.5: A zombie in the water industry
Rudolf Schoeman Jnr built a R2-billion empire off the back of the country’s crumbling water infrastructure. By 2022, CMS Water Engineering was itself imploding as contracts were cancelled, and angry b
soundcloud.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Listen to the podcast 🎧 on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ybYeYF9jGBGtMuAMJWqlr?si=vaV__uG6SSiRssOy2WF65A
Or SoundCloud:
Or SoundCloud:
This is the fifth and final part of amaBhungane’s investigation: DEADLY WATER: a zombie in the water industry.
Read the investigation 🤳:
Read the investigation 🤳:
DEADLY WATER (Part 5): A zombie in the water industry
amabhungane.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:02 AM
This is the fifth and final part of amaBhungane’s investigation: DEADLY WATER: a zombie in the water industry.
Read the investigation 🤳:
Read the investigation 🤳:
The big one – the R291-million contract to repair the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant near Hammanskraal – was cancelled in August 2022. But Rudolf, ever the maverick, had one more card to play. And it was a good one.
November 18, 2025 at 4:02 AM
The big one – the R291-million contract to repair the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant near Hammanskraal – was cancelled in August 2022. But Rudolf, ever the maverick, had one more card to play. And it was a good one.