Fresh information suggests that the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) case against former minister Noah Salakae, Tau Grading (Pty) Ltd, its directors and lawyer may be deeply personal as key players with a tangled history collide in court.
It has emerged that the lead investigator in the corruption case acted as a lawyer for the accused persons before joining the DCEC to investigate them.
The revelation is just one strand in an increasingly tangled web of lawyers, politicians, vehicles and alleged favors.
At the heart of the storm is Thabo Malambane, DCEC deputy Director General and attorney.
Malambane is part of the team that investigated corruption allegations against Salakae, Tau Grading founder Rudy Lemcke, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hugo Lemcke, Chief Accountant Seby Jose, Permanent Secretary Ken Ketshajwang and lawyer Mompati Sepego.
The state alleges that Tau Grading bribed Salakae with P1.6 million, a Toyota Fortuner, as well as bush clearing services for the award of the P1.5billion Ghanzi-New Xade road construction project.
Before joining DCEC, Malambane allegedly acted as a lawyer for Salakae and Tau Grading.
Malambane was part of the team that investigated allegations that Tau Grading bribed Salakae with a Toyota Fortuner. The allegations followed revelations that Salakae had been using a Fortuner purchased by Tau Grading.
Sunday Standard investigations have uncovered another intriguing vehicle link, suggesting that Malambane also benefited from a similar favour by Tau Grading.
A few weeks before joining the DCEC, Malambane drove around in a Toyota Hilux double cab bearing registration B111BPD.
A Sunday Standard ownership search with the Department of Road Transport and Safety (DRTS) revealed that the car is registered under Maun Quarries.
A further CIPA search revealed that Maun Quarries shareholders are Christian Rudolf Lemcke and Hugo Johannes Lemcke.
The cross directorship between Maun Quaries and Tau Grading suggests that the two are sister companies.
In another curious development, it emerged that around the time Tau Grading allegedly allowed Salakae to use its Toyota Fortuner in the run up to the 2024 parliamentary elections, the company also provided his political opponent, BDP candidate John Thite with a Toyota Hi-lux twin cab.
Both men were competing for the same parliamentary seat. Both benefited from vehicles provided by Tau Grading. Among those who backed Salakae’s candidacy was Malambane.
Whatever happened between Salakae, Tau Grading and Malambane is now the subject of fierce speculation. But one thing is beyond doubt, the relationship has turned bitter. In Parliament last week, Salakae launched a blistering attack on what he called ‘ a notorious senior officer’ at DCEC. He accused the officer of sponsoring corruption allegations against him. Then came another broadside. At a kgotla meeting in Ghanzi, Salakae made reference to ‘ the young officer from DCEC’ and vowed to take him on in court,
The extraordinary public confrontation has transformed what might otherwise have been a straightforward corruption investigation into a much wider controversy.
On Friday, the controversy branched off into a political scene as the Broadhurst Magistrates Court was packed to the rafters by two busloads of Salakae’s political supporters.
Hundreds of supporters who drove the more than 600km overnight from Ghanzi arrived in court Friday morning wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Salakae’S face on the front and ‘ eseng mogo Salaka’ (Don’t touch Salakae) written across the back. The dramatic show of support suggested the corruption case hsas already become deeply political.
All the key players in what promises to be a brutal marathon trial share a deeply entangled history.
THE 2013 MURDER CASE
In February 2013, while he was still Principal Magistrate in Ghanzi, Malambane sparked a national outcry when he granted unconditional bail to two murder suspects-Tshiamo Kalalelo and Mmika Mpe-less than 14 days after they were arrested for the gruesome murder, robbery and rape of their employer, Johanna Reinette Vorster.
Hours after Malambane granted them bail, the two accused were re-arrested in a separate stock theft case.
In protest, Malambane demanded answers why the matter was secretly moved from his docket in Ghanzi to a court in Gaborone without his consent. Viewing this as administrative overreach and an assault on his judicial independence, Malambane boycotted all cases before his court until he received an explanation.
He was subsequently summarily dismissed from the bench for gross misconduct and insubordination after he refused an order from the Acting Chief Justice to resume his judicial duties. He unsuccessfully challenged his dismissal at the Court of Appeal (CoA) in 2021.
Incidentally, attorney Charles Tlagae, who is part of the current Tau Grading defence team, was the family lawyer for the slain Reinett Vorster and her husband Leon Vorster at the time.
THE TAU GRADING CONNECTION
After his dismissal from the judiciary, Malambane stayed in Ghanzi and continued to practice as a private lawyer. Sunday Standard is informed that Tau Grading was one of his major clients over the years. Tau Grading employees have indicated that Malambane has represented the company as a lawyer.
SALAKAE and TAU GRADING
The relationship between Salakae and Tau Grading dates back to 2013, when current General Manager John Motsumi introduced him to Head of Finance Jose Seby.
Motsumi would then become Salakae’s Campaign Manager in the 2014 general elections, which he successfully contested against then Member of Parliament (MP) Johnny Swartz.
Salake lost to John Thiite by only 176 votes in 2019. At the time, both candidates maintained a close relationship with Tau Grading and continued to enjoy its support.
In October 2024, just two weeks before the general elections, Tau Grading borrowed Salakae a Toyota Fortuner for use during his elections campaign. The same courtesy was extended to his opponent, John Thiite, who was also lent a Toyota Hilux Double.
However, sources have indicated that Salakae returned the Fortuner to Tau Grading in September 2025.
THE BNF WINDFALL
Salakae’s prosecution is widely viewed as a continuation of the factional fights within the ruling Botswana National Front (BNF). The Ghanzi North MP is regarded as a fierce critic of some close allies of President Duma Boko. Reference is routinely made to Salakae’s explosive letter announcing his resignation from the BNF Central Committee, in which he alleged that the party was run by Boko’s bodyguards. Meanwhile, Salakae’s loyalists shot salvos at the BNF leadership during the Monday kgotla meeting. Councillor Soso Saidoo has been summoned for a disciplinary hearing after he publicly declared that the charges against Salakae were fueled by internal party politics and described BNF Vice President Moeti Mohwasa as ‘evil.’
Sunday Standard is informed that the BNF is also a beneficiary of Tau Grading’s benevolence. Party insiders have revealed that Tau Grading paid for over 20 buses to transport activists to the party national congress in Palapye and further paid for transport (10 buses) and food (P100,000) at the BNF national conference in Jwaneng. However, Tau Grading General Manager John Motsumi has denied any knowledge of such funding.
‘I am not aware of any funding of that nature from Tau Grading to BNF,’ he said in response to questions from Sunday Standard.