PSP's husband's gov’t tendering queried in Parly
Spira Tlhankane | Wednesday August 13, 2025 08:41
Peloetletse (Joseph) was previously rocked by reports that he is using his wife’s influence to secure lucrative government tenders, and this week, Tswapong South legislator Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang questioned the ‘conflicts of interest’ in awarding government tenders to Joe Electrical.
Gobotswang wanted to know the total number of public projects that Joe’s Electrical is involved in, and the projects where Joe’s Electrical has benefited via direct appointment, and whether there were no other qualified companies that could have benefited in the same way.
In response, the minister of transport and infrastructure, Noah Salakae, said according to the available records, there was one project in the ministry where Joe's Electrical was involved. “In October 2017, the company was subcontracted by ENGi-CON (Pty) Ltd, which was the main contractor, to undertake the Electrical Component of Construction of Maitengwe Police Station. Be advised that the main contractor was terminated on March 7, 2025, due to non-performance. The scheduled completion time was May 7, 2019,' he said.
Salakae added that the total value of the electrical component in the construction of Maitengwe Police Station is P9.7 million.
“I am not aware of any project where Joe’s Electrical was given a direct appointment,” Salakae highlighted. Gobotswang further asked if the minister is aware that Joe’s Electrical is owned by the husband of a high-ranking government official. “Looking at our procurement laws, which state that government officials and their relatives should not do business with the government, is it okay for this company to tender?” Gobotswang asked the minister.
Salakae said Gobotswang should have been direct in his question and indicated who the owner of the company is. “I don’t know the owner of the company, I didn’t ask,” Salakae added. Gobotswang was unsatisfied and pointed out that the question was in Parliament by mistake because it was there in the last sitting, and that he was told it had to be answered by the State President's ministry. “I fixed it so that it could be answered by the Office of the President. That is an old question and has been passed by time. I redirected and modified that question because I wanted to capture exactly what I want,” he said.
Joe’s Electrical was previously subject to controversy in 2023 when a whistleblower wrote a complaint letter to then-president Mokgweetsi Masisi about the matter. The whistleblower complained about Legacy Pursuit’s involvement in the police station's lucrative tender. Peloetletse is a shareholder in Legacy Pursuit Proprietary Limited through his company Joe’s Electrical. The whistleblower raised serious questions about the fairness and legality of procurement decisions.
In response to the allegations labelled against him, his wife, and Legacy Pursuit, Peloetletse told the media then that his spouse is the PSP, but he started his company in 1989 when she was still a junior officer. He said he is not going to stop tendering for government jobs despite the allegations brought forward by the whistleblower against him. Peloetletse claimed that he does not discuss government tenders with the PSP and that his wife does not know much about government tenders for various ministries.
“I read the Government Gazette mostly because that is where the tenders are. My wife mostly knows about tenders in her ministry, but I have always been informed that there is a no-go area,” he said. He said, besides tenders from the Office of the President (OP), he was free to tender anywhere his wife is not conflicted.
“My wife is not involved in any adjudication of tender awarding, ke motho hela wa modimo,” Peloetletse emphasised, claiming his innocence.
In addition, Peloetletse said the fact that his wife is the PSP is just a development because he comes from way back in the tendering field. “I have been tendering for many years. I have been developing what I have. These reports are ruining us in the financial sector. Potential financiers don’t want to touch us because of negative reports about us,” he disclosed. Peloetletse said these allegations blast their adjudication in other projects besides the police stations one, a tender they had not yet won.
Speaking of having not won, the controversial tender to build 28 police stations across the country was eventually won by Homesafe Inspections T/A Homesafe Properties/China Jiangsu International Botswana, and Unik Construction Engineering.
The Botswana Public Procurement Act, specifically Section 45, outlines that relatives of public officers or employees of public bodies are prohibited from benefiting from tenders. This provision aims to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure fairness and transparency in the procurement process.
Specifically, the law states that 'no award of a tender shall be made to such immediate member of the family of a public officer or of an employee of a public body'. This includes direct or indirect interests in companies or undertakings with which the public body proposes to deal, or any personal interest in a decision the body is making.