In what is seemed as the complete disregard of the African National Congress (ANC) National General Council (NGC) resolution of renewal, two senior members of the biggest Region in the North West were arrested last night on charges of Extortion.
ANC General Secretary Fikile Mbalula re-affirmed the stance of the organisation when it comes to corruption, during the ANC’s NGC that took place in Boksburg in Johannesburg from Monday and ended on Friday there is no place for corrupt leaders in the party.
Barely hours after ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa closed the 7th NGC meeting, two ANC seniors leaders Raymond Nchane Moraile who is the Regional Secretary and Peter Phaswana Lehong who is the member of the mayoral council for Public Safety and Ward 2 in Madibeng Local Municipality from Bojanala Region in the North West were arrested in Menylyn in Pretoria last night.
Moraile and Lehong were arrested by the Hawks are facing the charges of extortion.
It is alleged that Moraila and Lehong and their driver abandoned the closing day of the NGC to attend a meeting with a contractor whom they wanted to extort a sum of R300 000 in Menylyn Main Shopping centre.
According to reliable sources within the North West ANC, Moraila, Lehong and their driver Menzi Mgangi were caught in an operation by the Hawks after they had reassured the businesman a tender to be appointed with 15 contractors for hiring plant and equipment at Madibeng Local Municipality over a 36-month period.
Sources claim that the pair asked the contractor to deliver R300 000 hard cash personally to them not knowing that there was a trap set up by the Hawks.
“They thought they had scored a jackpot and it something that has been going on for a while where they influence tenders to be awarded to their preferred candidates for a certain amount. They totally disregarded the ANC mandate of renewal and this comes with huge embarassment not to the North West ANC but to the ANC as the organisation,” the first source said.
Another source said that this was an embarassment to the North West ANC as the ANC ‘s January 8 Celebration will be held in the province.
“Bojanala is the biggest Region and this is the huge embarassment. They must consider their careers as members of the organisation as history if they will be found guilty. They will not escape this one. These ones are gone, now Bojanala Region must cleansed itself and prove that not all members from the top structures are corrupt,” another source said.
When the North West ANC Spokesperson, Tumelo Maruping was contacted for comment, he said they are not aware about the matter.
“Kindly note that, we are yet to receive a formal report on this matter. So far we only saw it on social networks. We will put across our position once the story is clarified,” Maruping said.
Hawks Spokesperson, Katlego Mogale confirmed the incident.
“Three suspects aged 39, 40 and 42 including a Ward Councillor, a driver and member of a political party from Madibeng Municipality in Brits were are expected in court following their arrest at Menlyn on Thursday by the Anti-Corruption Investigation, Head Office of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI).
“The trio were arrested in an intelligence driven operation after they demanded a gratification amounting to R300,000-00 from a local businessman, in exchance for the awarding of a tender, which was advertised by the Madibeng Municipality during November 2025.,” she said.
Mogale said that it is alleged that the complainant was contacted by one of the suspects inquiring if the businessman was interested in being assisted to secure a tender.
“The trio is reported to have arranged a meeting with the businessman wherein they discussed the amount to exchange hands. The law abiding businessman then reported the matter to the Serious Corruption Investigation who in turn obtained the necessary documents to set up an operation,” she said.
When Ramaphosa was delivering the political overview report, he stressed about the quality of cadres and pointing out that corruption was the biggest challenge in the the organisation.
National spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri defended the ANC saying that it was individuals that were corrupt not the ANC.
“I always say that if the ANC was a corrupt party, not individuals we would not be poor. We would be tapping into the resources of the state as a governing party. We insist that the ANC is not a corrupt organisation. Individuals found to be involved in corrupt activities must face the full might of the law,” she said.
All three will be appearing in the Pretoria Magistrates court (Friday) today.