Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has suspended Kedibone Madiehe, CEO of the Government Pensions Administration Agency, amid serious allegations of misconduct involving high-value procurement contracts worth over R1 billion. The suspension, which began on Friday, is a precautionary measure and Madiehe will receive full pay during this period.
In the interim, Job Stadi Mngomezulu, the Treasury’s deputy director-general for corporate services, has been appointed as the acting CEO. Mngomezulu brings over two decades of financial oversight experience from his time at the National Treasury.
The forensic investigation into the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA) is preliminarily focused on several specific procurement contracts:
- GPAA Head Office Lease: This is the most high-profile and costly of the contracts in question. It involves a “ghost contract” for a 10-year lease agreement worth just under R1 billion for a new head office in Pretoria. The GPAA allegedly awarded the bid to a company that does not own the building and paid large sums of money for refurbishments. The actual owner of the building, a JSE-listed company, reportedly had no dealings with the GPAA or the company to which the tender was awarded.
- African Mobility Bus Lease: This contract involves the lease of 11 mobile office buses for a five-year period, at a cost of R148 million.
- Jicho Consulting Contracts: The investigation is also looking into allegedly irregular payments made to Jicho Consulting. A GPAA financial manager was reportedly suspended after refusing to approve some of these payments, which were deemed questionable.
- LCS Biometric System Lease: This lease is also a focus of the investigation. While specific details on the value and nature of the alleged irregularities are not yet widely reported, it is one of the contracts that led to the disciplinary action against Madiehe.
Timeline of GPAA Issues
- February 16, 2024: The GPAA is notified of an attempt by the ransomware group LockBit to gain access to its systems. The agency initially claims no data breach occurred.
- March 11, 2024: LockBit releases some data, confirming a security breach. The GPAA later admits that certain systems were compromised.
- June 2025: A financial manager at the GPAA is suspended after refusing to approve what he considered questionable payments. The manager had reportedly requested the Finance Minister investigate contracts dating back to this period.
- August 2025 (preceding the suspension): Media reports surface detailing serious allegations of irregularities at the GPAA, including a “ghost contract” for a building lease that allegedly cost close to R1 billion and involved a property that the listed owner has no intention of selling or leasing. Other allegations surface, including the squandering of over R100 million on duplicated IT projects and R148 million for the lease of mobile buses. The GPAA refutes the allegations.
- August 22, 2025: The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration notes the media reports with concern and requests a joint meeting with the Standing Committee on Finance to investigate the allegations.
- August 25, 2025: Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana places GPAA CEO Kedibone Madiehe on precautionary suspension with full pay. Godongwana appoints Job Stadi Mngomezulu, a deputy director-general from the National Treasury, as the acting CEO. A forensic investigation is launched into the alleged misconduct.
- August 26, 2025: The Democratic Alliance and the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration welcome the suspension, with the latter urging the new acting CEO to act swiftly and institute disciplinary proceedings against all executives implicated.
This suspension comes as a result of an investigation into the Government Pensions Administration Agency, which manages the pension payments for government pensioners. The agency’s operational budget is R1.1 billion, with 93% of its funding from the Government Employees Pension Fund. The fund itself is the largest pension fund in Africa, with assets totaling R2.34 trillion and serving almost 1.3 million state employees.
Godongwana stated that under Mngomezulu’s leadership, the agency will continue to deliver on its mandate while working to resolve these matters swiftly.
