IDT CEO bribery scandal – How I ended up with R60,000 in a Dior bag

Victoria O’Regan: How did you get into investigative journalism?

Pieter-Louis Myburgh: I studied journalism, and I think around that time already I was quite interested in investigative journalism, specifically. I read All the President’s Men [Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s non-fiction book detailing how they investigated and uncovered the Watergate scandal in the US, ultimately leading to President Richard Nixon’s resignation]. 

It has always been a favourite read of mine, and at that point it was the most well-known example of really consequential, hard-hitting investigative journalism. I’ve always been inspired by the impact one can achieve through investigative journalism. 

VO: How did this specific investigation into the Independent Development Trust (IDT) begin? 

PLM: It started with the oxygen plants scandal. [A forensic investigation revealed that a shadowy company secured more than half of an IDT R836-million hospital oxygen plant tender during Covid-19, and governance failures at the IDT led to the CEO’s suspension.] A source contacted me in mid-2024, telling me to have a look at this massive contract. It just grew from there. I got some documents relating to the contract, and also found out that the main contractor wasn’t equipped to deliver that equipment and didn’t have the necessary Sahpra [South African Health Products Regulatory Authority] accreditation. 

VO: How did you get the first tip-off?

PLM: I can’t go into that much detail, but it goes back to my work on Digital Vibes. [The Digital Vibes scandal involved a politically connected communications firm siphoning off millions meant for public health during Covid-19.] So, seeing as Digital Vibes was a Health Department exposé, I do have some sources in that environment. It was somebody from that environment who told me to look at those oxygen plants, because the oxygen plants thing was a collaboration between the Health Department and the IDT. 

VO: How did you come up with the idea of doing a sting?

PLM: It was just the situation that led me to it. I was pursuing an investigation and, as I was contacting people, word of my probing must’ve got back to [suspended IDT CEO Tebogo Malaka] – or, at least to Phasha Makgolane, the IDT spokesperson – because Makgolane contacted me, out of the blue, in early June this year.

I had just come back from doing some work in Gauteng on this issue that I’m investigating, and then he phoned me and said that we should have a meeting, and it was too sensitive to discuss on the phone. You know, all that suspicious language that gave away what the intentions would be. 

I contacted Daily Maverick editor-in-chief Jillian Green and deputy editor Anso Thom and I said that everything points to bribery being the intention – I don’t think this is just a normal interaction between me and the spokesperson. I proposed the idea that we should pursue the meeting first, with Makgolane, and then later with the IDT CEO. Because when Makgolane contacted me, right from the start he said that there were going to be two meetings – one with him and one where Malaka would also be present. 

Read more: Exclusive Video: Suspended IDT CEO, spokesperson offer Daily Maverick journalist R60K in cash to quash investigation

VO: So you suspected it?

PLM: Oh, definitely. His language gave it away. Just the fact that he was saying that we have mutual matters to discuss. It’s kind of code for something nefarious.

VO: Were you nervous?

PLM: Absolutely – throughout. We invested so much editorially and journalistically in this project – time and logistics, and there were some expenses, obviously. So just on that front, I really wanted it to work out. But then obviously there are also safety concerns on top of that.

VO: Tell me about the tech that you used. Did you plan where to sit based on where you could set up a hidden camera?

PLM: I suppose the operation is wrapped up, so we can go into some detail. The first prize was always going to be for us to sit at that table, which is why I arrived much earlier. I was already sitting there so that I could beckon for them to come over to me. 

But we did plan for some eventualities. If they maybe insisted on going to another table, if they didn’t like that one, there would’ve been mobile cameras with some of the operators to follow us and hopefully get it on camera. 

But that table was going to be our very best chance of getting the best footage and sound. 

VO: How did Malaka and Makgolane react when you photographed the money?

PLM: I think they were a little stunned. Makgolane thought I was using an app on my phone that was counting the money. Well, he jokingly suggested that.

I think that when I did that, it probably dawned on them that I was doing something funny. And then, very shortly after that, I told them I was, in fact, not taking the money and gave it back to them. 

VO: Who paid the bill?

PLM: That’s a very good question! Obviously, I walked away to get out of there and so did the two of them. So the people on the ground who assisted with the logistics paid the bill. 

VO: Are you scared for your safety?  

PLM: Yes, I am – but, I guess, in this line of work it’s almost a constant consideration. Whether it’s me working on this or other journalists working on the provincial health department in Gauteng or whistle-­blower Babita Deokaran’s assassination – it’s just, I suppose, a constant consideration. For now, I’m kind of lying low.

VO: What now, and what consequences would you like to see happen?

PLM: We’re still focused on getting our actual investigation out [on Monday], which is the issue that prompted the whole bribe attempt. 

So, ironically, I think this bribe is going to become the main story for now, but actually the investigation involves another IDT contract and the CEO’s property in Gauteng. 

VO: Some people have quipped that R60,000 isn’t that much money. Is there a price that you would’ve accepted?

PLM: No. I think we should definitely correct the optics around the amount, because I see that’s one angle that’s gone very viral. The reality is that R60,000 was meant to have been a little sweetener. At the very first meeting with Makgolane, the main boon for me would have been tenders from the IDT. 

He said that I could bring contractors to the IDT, they would clinch the contracts, and then I could sort of get my cut. And, very shortly after that first meeting, he sent me a Western Cape IDT tender, inviting me to spread it among my contractor friends. Unfortunately I don’t have many of those [laughs]. 

I know everybody thinks R60,000 is low-balling, but the real story is that’s not the case. They were willing to channel possibly millions of rands to me. DM