Illustrative image: Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe (Photo: Gallo Images / Sharon Seretlo) | BAIC Beijing X55s (Photos: baic.co.za) Late on Friday, 24 April, two cars were driven into the parking lot of the ANC headquarters at Luthuli House.
News quickly spread: Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe appeared to have delivered to the ANC mother ship the two luxury Chinese SUVs she had accepted as a donation from Chinese officials in late 2023.
Tolashe had few options after reportedly telling the ANC’s Integrity Commission that she had accepted the vehicles as a donation for the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL), but had registered them in her children’s names to “safeguard” them from creditors.
It is a story that doesn’t add up, given that multiple ANCWL insiders have told Daily Maverick that the donations were never disclosed to the ANCWL at any point by Tolashe, the body’s president.
Now, Daily Maverick can reveal that of the two SUVs Tolashe had delivered to Luthuli House last week, only one was the original BAIC X55 gifted to Tolashe.
The other was an entirely different car, obtained by Tolashe’s daughter Kanyisa as a replacement for the BAIC X55 she received from her mother, but had already sold in October 2025.
Questions sent to Tolashe by Daily Maverick through the Department of Social Development were redirected to ANCWL spokesperson Boitumelo Moiloa, who did not respond. Kanyisa Tolashe and ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula also did not respond to our requests for comment.
The Chinese SUV switcheroo
The two original BAIC SUVs revealed by Daily Maverick to have been given to Tolashe on the understanding that they were meant to support ANCWL operations were both BAIC X55s: one white, one yellow.
Vehicle registration records show that the white BAIC was registered in Tolashe’s son Nanilethu’s name on 15 April 2024, while the yellow BAIC was registered in daughter Kanyisa’s name on the same day.
After Daily Maverick obtained photographs of the two cars which arrived at Luthuli House on 25 April 2026, it was apparent that only the original white BAIC had been returned.
In the place of the yellow BAIC, a green Chery Jaecoo J7 – an SUV from a different Chinese manufacturer – had been delivered.
/file/attachments/orphans/carscomparison_334567.jpg "Two BAIC X55s (centre) were originally donated to Tolashe by Chinese officials in late 2023 — one BAIC X55 (left) and one Chery Jaecoo J7 (right) were returned by Sisise Tolashe to the ANC. (Photo: Supplied)")
Using the number plates, we were able to trace the vehicle registration records for each car.
The white BAIC is still registered as belonging to Nanilethu Tolashe, while the green Chery Jaecoo is registered under the ownership of Kanyisa Tolashe.
/file/attachments/orphans/becs-car-returns_110077.jpeg "Current vehicle ownership records for the Jaecoo show that it is still registered in the name of K Tolashe. (Source: NATIS)")
The records show that Kanyisa came into possession of the Jaecoo on 25 November 2025.
This fits with what we already knew from the original yellow BAIC’s records: that Kanyisa had sold it to online car marketplace Weelee on 28 October 2025, from where it had subsequently been bought by a Centurion engineer.
The Jaecoo records show that Kanyisa obtained her replacement wheels roughly a month later from Cubbi, another online car marketplace. There is no financing mechanism attached to this transaction, which suggests that Kanyisa bought it cash.
If so, however, there would have been a likely shortfall from the proceeds of the sale of the BAIC X55.
Research shows that a realistic Weelee payout for this used model in October 2025 was likely to have been around R330,000 to R380,000. The used Jaecoo J7 Kanyisa bought to replace it would have probably cost between R420,000 and R500,000 – meaning that there would have been a deficit of between R40,000 and R170,000 to cover, although these figures are speculative.
The Jaecoo is still registered as belonging to Kanyisa Tolashe.
The fact that there is documented evidence of the yellow original BAIC X55 having been sold, shortly after Daily Maverick began publishing its first investigations into Tolashe and her department in September 2025, should make Tolashe’s claim that her children were “safeguarding” these assets for the ANCWL hard to swallow.
‘She brought the cars back’
Over the Freedom Day weekend, Tolashe had to face the ANC Women’s League’s highest body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), as well as its National Working Committee, for the first time since the Chinese SUV scandal broke.
They were long and tense meetings, insiders told Daily Maverick, divided between those who wanted more accountability and answers from Tolashe on the SUV issue, and those who insisted their president had nothing to apologise for.
Daily Maverick understands that Tolashe stuck to her guns in her claim about “safeguarding” the SUVs, and asked that they now be registered as belonging to the ANCWL.
She refused to confirm precisely who or what body had donated the SUVs.
Unhappiness was voiced by NEC members who pointed out that when donations had been made to the ANCWL under former president Bathabile Dlamini, these had always been disclosed to the NEC. There were also concerns raised about how the current scandals trailing Tolashe could affect the ANC in the upcoming local elections.
The loudest voice lobbying in favour of Tolashe, sources told Daily Maverick, was Buffalo City Mayor Princess Faku, backed up by members from the Eastern Cape and some from the Western Cape and Limpopo.
Tolashe’s supporters criticised some leaders for speaking to the media on this issue, arguing that the ANCWL needed to demonstrate discipline and a united front.
Ultimately, Daily Maverick understands that Tolashe seemed to have the support of the majority by the end of the weekend.
One insider summarised: “The attitude is that she brought the cars back”.
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Department of Social Development officials, meanwhile, will appear before Parliament’s portfolio committee on Wednesday to present the department’s annual performance plan. Although the recent controversies involving Tolashe’s department are not on the agenda, MPs are sure to reiterate a call for Tolashe to be summoned as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, the committee’s chair Bridget Masongo, a DA MP, issued a statement announcing that Tolashe will be asked to appear before the committee to respond to Daily Maverick’s reporting on the private nanny Tolashe appears to have hired with government money and coerced into paying over half her salary monthly to subsidise Tolashe’s family members’ household expenses.
Masango described the conduct reported by Daily Maverick from Tolashe in this regard as “not just a technical breach of rules” but also “a violation of public trust”. DM