Phiyega's fixer runs a brothel
STEPHAN HOFSTATTER, MZILIKAZI wa
AFRIKA and ROB ROSE | 15 September, 2013 10:05
Makhosini Nkosi.
Pic: MARIANNE PRETORIUS. 15/02/2007. © Sunday Times.
Police chief Riah Phiyega's spin doctor Makhosini Nkosi secretly runs a
brothel in a quiet suburban street in Johannesburg, taking a cut every time a
client hires a prostitute at his premises.
A Sunday Times investigation can reveal that
prostitutes freely ply their trade at the premises in Randburg that also house
the offices of Nkosi's communications company, Makhosini Nkosi &
Associates.
Charges for regular sex sessions range from R400
for half an hour and R500 an hour to negotiated rates of up to R3000 for
"extras", including threesomes. Nkosi gets a R200 cut for every hour.
While prostitutes are raking in cash for Nkosi in
his massage rooms, he runs his PR company from a back office on the same
premises. From here he interacts with clients, including National Police
Commissioner Phiyega, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Black Business
Council, and the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals,
for whom he arranged ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe as a keynote speaker
in June.
This week, Nkosi admitted to illegally operating a
bar and massage parlour at the premises without business rights or a liquor
licence. But he insisted it was not a brothel, just "an interesting
B&B" - even though he admitted to paying for adverts on sex websites.
"All I know is these people do massages ...
when two people are in a room, I don't know what they do," he said,
admitting that sex "probably happens".
"We call it an adult lodge for discreet
encounters," he said. "We decided to charge by the hour because we
could make more money."
Asked why pornographic videos were screened in the
massage rooms, he said: "Haven't you heard about happy endings?"
Nkosi's brothel markets itself as the Stiletto
Ranch - although his company registered at the premises goes by the name of The
Network Club.
The Stiletto Ranch is advertised on sex website
Escort South Africa, as it was previously on Sex Trader, as a "private
adult lodge" that offers "successful gentlemen [what they] want and
don't always get". "We have the finest selection of ebony goddesses
and they are rotated according to demand," the advert reads.
When the Sunday Times visited the premises this
week, we were offered sex for money almost immediately - a criminal offence in
terms of the Sexual Offences Act.
Four of the prostitutes confirmed "Mak"
was "the boss" after he made several brief appearances in the dimly
lit bar and lounge area fitted with black tiles and drapes, and furnished with
black couches and bar stools with chrome fittings. Tretchikoff prints adorn the
walls.
Nkosi said the women called him "the
boss" because he owned the premises. He said he bought the house as a
B&B after his contract at the NPA came to an end in 2006 and he was frozen
out of his job as head of communications at Absa in 2009.
"I sat at home for two years. What options did
I have? I had to do something to sustain my family," he said.
In February, Nkosi sought to apply for
"business rights" to become a facility catering for "adult
entertainment". He has yet to be granted these rights.
The women working at the brothel, some of whom pay
R50 per day to stay at the house, said "Mak" could be
"difficult" but was generally a good employer.
One woman, wearing a short, sequined red skirt and
introducing herself as Dineo from Bloemfontein, said the brothel became
particularly busy from Wednesday to Monday.
"Lulu" from Port St Johns, wearing a
short black skirt and tight-fitting top, showed the Sunday Times one of the
four rooms where clients pay for sex. It contained a massage table, a double
bed and a TV set screening hardcore pornography videos.
"Massage isn't really my thing, but I'm good
at any of that," she said, pointing to the pornographic images, before
quoting the going rates. "You can pay at the bar afterwards - cash or
credit card."
Nkosi runs his PR business from the same premises.
E-mails seen by the Sunday Times show Nkosi interacted personally with Phiyega
on how to improve a police image tarnished by a series of scandals, including
last year's Marikana massacre.
"I cannot discount the hostility the media
reports on you [that] filled the gap that was created by the breakdown of media
relations at SAPS national level [that] started during Mr [Bheki] Cele's
tenure," he writes. "We have to repair these relations."
Phiyega's spokesman, Solomon Makgale, said Nkosi's
three-month contract was awarded after a competitive bidding processes, and
ended on June 11.
"His communications skill was all that the
SAPS was interested in and used," said Makgale.
"If he is involved in anything illegal, then
an investigation will be carried out and appropriate action will be
taken."
Late last year, Nkosi also became the NPA's
spokesman on high-profile cases, including the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius
and the corruption trial of Julius Malema. That contract expired this year.
Before that, he worked as a "fixer" for
Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba, dealing with state-owned companies
such as Eskom and South African Airways. Nkosi's company charges between R500
and R2100 an hour for its services.
One of his early clients was businessman Roux
Shabangu - a friend of President Jacob Zuma - who the Sunday Times exposed for
clinching the dodgy lease deal with Cele that led to Phiyega's predecessor
being fired.
