Since 2023, Zakhele Dlamini has presented himself as the executive director of Funduzi Forensic Services, the controversial firm hired by the auditor general (AG)’s office to probe the national drug shortage.
Today, this newspaper can reveal that official records show he has never legally held a directorship or owned shares in the company.
According to senior government insiders familiar with the matter, also seen by this newspaper, Zakhele is neither a director nor a shareholder of the entity, but has, in the company’s public posture, including its engagement with Parliament and court proceedings, repeatedly presented himself as an executive director.
Instead, Funduzi, which to date has cost taxpayers around E4 million, nearly double the value of the original tender, is legally owned and directed solely by 69-year-old Paston Dlamini, a man who has never once addressed the public on behalf of the company.
According to documents seen by this newspaper, the company’s internal attempts to restructure its leadership and allocate shares to Zakhele spectacularly collapsed when the ministry of commerce, industry and trade declined the application.
This was after the ministry declared the changes defective, invalid and based on documents involving a non-existent entity.
“There has been confusion around the company’s ownership since a month after the company was set up and only a month before it was awarded the high-profile tender (November 2022), as its original founder, Thulani Mabuza, exited,” disclosed one insider.
The ministry ruled that the company’s only lawful director and shareholder is Paston, yet Zakhele has continued to speak for Funduzi at press briefings.
Funduzi Forensic Services (Pty) Ltd was registered on 10 October 2022, with Mabuza as its sole director and shareholder, holding 100% of the company.
By late November 2022, just days before the company was awarded the tender to investigate the drug shortage crisis, Mabuza formally resigned, transferring all shares to Paston, who became the company’s only director and owner. A Form J was reportedly properly lodged and a new share certificate issued.
Officials describe this period as ‘the last time Funduzi’s paperwork was clean and legally sound’ as complications soon began in 2023, once the forensic audit was in full effect.
Around mid-2023, the company purportedly internally agreed to bring Zakhele into leadership, with draft resolutions claiming he would acquire 40% of the shares, serve as an ‘executive director’ and be authorised to ‘sign, represent, sue and act’ on behalf of the company.
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According to sources, every document submitted to the ministry to formalise these changes was either defective, invalid, or associated with a company that did not legally exist.
The problem, insiders explained, was that Zakhele’s acceptance of the company’s directorship predated the July 20, 2023 shareholders’ meeting at which he was supposedly appointed.
Compounding the issue is the letter referred to ‘FDZ Forensic Services’, a non-existent entity, rather than Funduzi Forensic Services, further undermining the validity of the appointment.
The ministry also highlighted that the individual presiding over the meeting was not a shareholder, a violation of the Companies Act, which stipulates that only members can pass resolutions affecting shareholding or director appointments.
“There was no lawful meeting to authorise the 40% share transfer to Zakhele, no compliant shareholder agreement and no valid documentation to substantiate his claim to directorship,” said the insiders, highlighting that the purported resolution carried no signatures from any members, rendering it automatically void.
“Subsequent filings, including a Form J lodged in February 2024, were all rejected, with the ministry pointing out that they were built upon earlier defective documents,” they added.
The ministry of commerce then issued a conclusive determination on June 20, 2024, making it clear that Funduzi Forensic Services (Pty) Ltd legally belongs 100% to Paston, who remains its sole director.
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Insiders say the decision was communicated to the company last year, effectively shutting down all attempts to integrate Zakhele into the corporate structure.
Yet, despite the formal ruling, he has continued to publicly carry out the duties of the company as ‘executive director’.
The revelation about the company’s true ownership comes just days after it emerged that Funduzi may have misrepresented its credentials and corporate identity to Cabinet during a meeting at Hospital Hill in 2023.
A review of documents submitted to Cabinet shows that the company presented altered or misleading material when it appeared before ministers on August 1, 2023, following media reports questioning its legitimacy, experience and procurement pathway.
The following day, Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg issued a public statement reassuring the nation that the auditor-general’s investigation remained beyond reproach.
In his statement, Minister Rijkenberg said Cabinet had satisfied itself that the firm contracted by the auditor-general was a South African entity operating as Funduzi Forensic Services, registered under 2017/390767/07, and that it had bid locally through an ‘extension’ registered in Eswatini under 202210101025631.
The minister added that statutory documents demonstrated the company was locally registered, technically capable and possessed ‘vast experience and technical expertise’ that gave it an edge over competitors.
Investigations by this newspaper, however, show that the South African registration number cited by the minister did not belong to Funduzi at the time the tender was awarded in December 2022.
Instead, the number was registered to an entirely different South African company, DW Wealth Consultants (Pty) Ltd.
Documents from the auditor-general’s office further contradict claims that the Eswatini-registered Funduzi was an extension of an established South African firm as they show that the local entity awarded the contract was newly formed in October 2022, just prior to the tender process.
This company had no corporate connection to any pre-existing South African forensic auditing company, contradicting the minister’s statement that the company was ‘experienced.’
Despite the questions surrounding the company and its report, the auditor general’s office has re-engaged the same firm for a fresh assignment.
The assignment, described as an “extension of scope,” continues to be shrouded in secrecy, particularly regarding the financial cost to taxpayers.
The AG’s office has declined to provide details, stating only that the company remains contracted under Tender No. 14 of 2023/2024, while sidestepping questions about whether a fresh procurement process was conducted.
“Funduzi’s current assignment is on the causes for recalled drugs and drug testing to ascertain compliance with WHO standards and good manufacturing practices, granted through a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recommendation,” said Communications Officer Bongile Mavuso.
Pressed on whether additional payments had been made under this ongoing assignment, Mavuso declined to provide figures, stating only that the company “has working arrangements with government and government honours its financial obligations with all suppliers.”
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