Two years after the Special Tribunal locked down his Steyn City mansion and his Porsche, former ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe is learning that luxury bought with litigation does not move.
The Special Investigating Unit has secured a decisive judgment that keeps Mabe’s most prized assets exactly where they were in November 2024 — frozen.
Africa Daily understands that Special Tribunal Judge Billy Mothle Mashile on 28 September dismissed Mabe’s application to stay the SIU’s civil recovery case and ordered him and Enviro Mobi, now trading as Groen Mintirho, to pay the costs.
It is the second time the Tribunal has told Mabe that his bid to pause the case has no merit.
Mabe had asked the Tribunal to suspend everything until his High Court review and his criminal trial are finished. He argued the SIU’s pre-proclamation investigation was unlawful and that civil and criminal matters cannot run together.
The Tribunal found the opposite.
“The SIU welcomes the judgment delivered by the Special Tribunal, which dismissed Mr Puleng Peter Mabe’s application to stay proceedings against him and Enviro Mobi,” the SIU said.
“The Tribunal found that his application lacked merit and was aimed at delaying accountability. The Tribunal concluded that Mr Mabe’s application was an attempt to obstruct justice and was properly dismissed.”
It is the 2024 order that continues to haunt him.
In November 2024, the Tribunal granted the SIU a preservation order freezing Mabe’s immovable property in Steyn City — a 1,400 square metre mansion in one of Gauteng’s most exclusive estates — and a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS valued at about R3.7 million new.
The order bars him from selling, leasing or transferring the assets while the main case continues.
The origin is Tender GT/GDARD/030/2017. In 2017, the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment awarded a R27.6 million contract for 200 motorised three-wheel waste collection vehicles — the tuk-tuk style vehicles meant to collect waste in townships.
Enviro Mobi won it. At the time, its sole director was Mabe.
The City of Ekurhuleni later bought another 70 vehicles for about R9 million under the same contract.
The SIU investigation, authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa under Proclamation R15 of 2021, found the procurement was riddled with irregularities.
The SIU said its probe uncovered losses of more than R25 million and a money trail that did not stay with the company.
“The SIU found that over 90% of funds paid to Enviro Mobi were transferred into accounts controlled by Mr Mabe,” the unit said.
The Tribunal has now confirmed that the SIU’s pre-proclamation work was lawful and preliminary, that the Presidential Proclamation was validly issued, and that parallel criminal and civil proceedings can run at the same time.
“It also ruled that the existence of parallel criminal proceedings does not prevent civil recovery action, as civil and criminal matters serve distinct purposes and may proceed concurrently,” SIU spokesperson Selby Makgotho said.
The criminal leg is already in motion. In October 2024, Mabe, his wife Mmatlhekelo Elsie Mabe, business associate Tinyiko Mahuntsi, four former Gauteng officials, Enviro Mobi and Kariki Media Holdings were charged with fraud, theft, contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act and the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. The matter is before the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
The SIU launched its main Tribunal application in July 2024. Pleadings closed in June 2025.