Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
NewsbriefSouth Africa, briefly.
JoburgJHB29°69%
CTCT21°90%
PretoriaPTA33°75%
DurbanDBN30°20°

CIDB removes 75 contractors from national register

Published

Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson said the contractors misrepresented information in applications to upgrade their registration grades. The list includes Moriel Group, which is linked to Zimbabwean businessman Lawrence Mudzinganyama, and the blacklisted firms hold grades from 1 to 9.

Macpherson said Moriel Group may have misrepresented its financial and technical capabilities to win public sector contracts. He said the firm may not have been suitably qualified for that work. He also said the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) began its investigation into Moriel Group in 2025, before a viral video circulated.

Macpherson warned of the cost of such cases. He said: "These create risk of delays, abandoned projects and financial losses, and ultimately citizens suffer the cost".

An industry expert called the blacklisting necessary and long overdue. Brian Tloubatla, a tender administrator at Shad Holdings, said firms that gain higher designations through misrepresentation displace honest, capable contractors, including smaller and emerging enterprises.

Matakanye Matakanye, general secretary of the National Association of School Governing Bodies, welcomed the move. He claimed some contractors received 50% of the tender and then abandoned projects. He said schools and stadiums stand unfinished because contractors lacked the track record to deliver.

Key facts

Who
Dean Macpherson (minister of public works and infrastructure); Brian Tloubatla (tender administrator at Shad Holdings); Matakanye Matakanye (general secretary of the National Association of School Governing Bodies); Lawrence Mudzinganyama (director and executive chair of Moriel Group)
What
Public works minister Dean Macpherson announced that 75 companies were removed from the CIDB's national register of contractors for misrepresenting information in grading upgrade applications. Among them is Moriel Group, linked to Zimbabwean businessman Lawrence Mudzinganyama, and an industry expert and a school governing body representative welcomed the move.
When
27 October 2026
Where
South Africa
Status
Reported

Related stories

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

  1. BOSA's Solomons flags one-ballot problem at Cape Town voting stations
  2. Mashatile urges new councillors to put voters first
  3. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll

See every update

US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update