By Simon Nare
Suspended Department of Transport Director of Research and Content Development Esethu Hasane has published a book detailing the events leading to his precautionary suspension after he raised concerns about alleged irregular and fruitless expenditure of more than R15 million on livestreaming services.
In his book, Protected Disclosure: The Cost of Refusing to Sign 15+ Million Irregular and Fruitless Expenditure, Hasane recounts how, in July 2023, days after taking up his position, he refused to sign a requisition for a livestreaming contract involving three service providers and agreements totalling R15 million, which he alleges were rotated among the companies without competitive bidding.
“A single stream was costing the department between R250 000 and R300 000. Section 45(c) of the Public Finance Management Act made that refusal my duty,” Hasane writes.
He said he received a notice of precautionary suspension on September 8, 2026, which took effect the following day, after he went public with allegations of irregularities involving between R13.3 million and R15 million in the department’s livestreaming contracts.
The department’s Acting Director-General, Mathabatha Mokonyama, subsequently appointed a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations.
Hasane contested his suspension and raised claims of victimisation, which led to labour court proceedings.
He has now compiled his account of the events into a book, which he says he is making available in the public interest.
“I am sharing the book free, including on WhatsApp, as a disclosure made in full compliance with the Protected Disclosures Act and not for personal gain. The book is also available on Amazon. Anybody who buys it there contributes to my legal costs,” he said in a statement announcing its release.
Hasane stressed that he was not accusing anyone of criminal conduct, saying this would have to be established through an investigation.
He said findings by Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke supported his objections to signing the livestreaming contract.
According to Hasane, seven livestreaming quotations were awarded to three companies, each at just below R1 million, allegedly to avoid competitive bidding, with contracts rotating among the same service providers.
“Read together, they were one requirement of R6.8 million, split into parts that never reached competition. The Auditor-General classified the split procurement as irregular expenditure and recommended consequence management for the officials who permitted it,” he said.
Hasane said the Auditor-General’s records showed that R13,275,774.40 had been paid to the three suppliers during the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years.
He said one of the companies had already received R3,005,520 by April 2024, taking the combined payments to more than R15 million.
“Together that passes R15 million, and it is a floor, not a ceiling. The classification of the expenditure as irregular is the Auditor-General’s,” he said.
Hasane said he had also described the expenditure as fruitless in the book, adding that the procurement was currently subject to a forensic investigation commissioned by the department. He said the Hawks also had his sworn statement.
In the book, he recounts how, 14 months after he refused to sign the contract, an anonymous letter demanding his dismissal was sent to the department. He alleges that the department’s information technology unit traced the letter to his supervisor.
Hasane also refers to a September 6, 2026, departmental statement which described his account of victimisation as devoid of truth.
“On 6 September 2026 the Department named me in a media statement that called my account of victimisation devoid of the truth. Three days later I was suspended. The sixty days that the suspension was allowed to last run out today,” he said.
The book traces how his protected disclosure was escalated to The Presidency, the Department of Public Service and Administration, National Treasury, the Auditor-General, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport.
Hasane said the chapters also explain why he believed a public servant sometimes had to take allegations beyond their own department.
He said his decision to publish the book while suspended and with the matter still under investigation was driven by what he described as six significant words.
“Six Words. The Director-General’s written refusal, on 11 October 2024, to authorise an investigation of me, because a letter whose author is known is not an anonymous letter,” he said.
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