Document leaks led to Hawks raid at Mahumapelo's offices

The office of North West premier Supra Mahumapelo said the Hawks' raid at their offices on Thursday was linked to the leak of contracts between them and IT company Nepo Data Dynamics‚ which was contracted to integrate the province's IT systems.

Spokesperson Brian Setswambung said Nepo Data Dynamics had been given a three-year contract back in 2016. "Last week a junior employee is believed to have been enticed into stealing these documents‚" said Setswambung. The documents were then circulated on social media.

"We have had our own internal investigations into the matter and we are co-operating with the Hawks. These are part of the premier's efforts to intensify efforts to root out corruption‚" said Setswambung. "We welcome the Hawks investigating and will co-operate fully‚" he added.

Mahumapelo was not present at the time of the raid. "He is in the legislature at the moment but we will be holding a press briefing on this matter at 1pm at the premier's office‚" Setswambung added.

The team of Hawks officers had been raiding the office since 8am. They had not concluded their operation by 11am.

This publication earlier reported that the Hawks investigators have not searched Mahumapelo's personal office but searched other sections in the building. These included the supply chain office that deals with procurement‚ and the financial office.