An argument with his wife over the family tree ended with former ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe making a midnight visit to a police station this month to seek a protection order against her — while she in turn threatened to charge him with domestic violence.
According to the incident report at the Douglasdale police station in Johannesburg, Mabe told the duty officer his wife, Elsie, was wandering the streets drunk — and she then also turned up at the station to lay a complaint of domestic violence and launched into an argument with Pule.
I am sure that you are aware that we are going through a lot, we are not OK. When saying we are not OK, I mean mentally
— Elsie Mabe
Elsie told the Sunday Times this week the altercation two weeks ago had been a storm in a teacup, sparked by the stress she and her husband are under due to the fraud charges against them involving a R27m tender for “tuk-tuk” waste removal vehicles in Alexandra.
“I am sure that you are aware that we are going through a lot, we are not OK. When saying we are not OK, I mean mentally,” she said.
The argument had been “a normal marital dispute ... It was not a major thing, that’s why we didn’t even open a case.”
Pule, who stepped aside from his ANC post early in January 2023 because of the fraud case, declined to comment.
According to the incident report, he arrived at the police station five minutes after midnight in the early hours of Monday March 9 to ask for the protection order. But he left the station after “he got a call ... regarding his wife walking around the street intoxicated”.
“He came back to the station because he did not find his wife. [He] alleged that he travelled home from Klerksdorp with his wife, Elsie Mabe. Upon arrival a simple conversation about a family tree led to insults between each other, thus leading the complainant to the police station,” the report reads.
Elsie Mabe also came to the station and wanted to open a case. Instead of seeking help from an officer at the station, she started exchanging words with Pule Mabe, took videos, left and said she would come back the following day to open a case of domestic violence
— Incident report
“Elsie Mabe also came to the station and wanted to open a case. Instead of seeking help from an officer at the station, she started exchanging words with Pule Mabe, took videos, left and said she would come back the following day to open a case of domestic violence.”
Police spokesperson Tintswalo Sibeko told the Sunday Times that no criminal case had been opened. “The complainant was, however, advised to apply for a protection order at the court,” she said.
The Mabes, who live in a luxurious home in Steyn City, face multiple charges, including fraud, theft and money laundering, stemming from a tender awarded by Gauteng provincial authorities in 2017 to Enviro-Mobi, a company linked to Mabe, for the supply of 200 tuk-tuks. State prosecutors allege the contract was secured fraudulently.
Mabe and his wife appeared at the Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court in February and are expected to return to court on May 5.
Their co-accused include former senior government officials Loyiso Mkwana, Thandeka Mabasa, Matilda Gasela, Abdullah Mohamed Ismail and Tinyiko Mahuntsi, as well as Enviro-Mobi and another company, Kariki Media Holdings.
According to prosecutors, Enviro-Mobi did not disclose to the Gauteng provincial government that it had links to Pule Mabe, who was an MP at the time.
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