Deputy President Paul Mashatile leads a life of luxury and seeming excess, using multimillion-rand homes owned by tenderpreneurs and beneficiaries of government contracts on Cape Town’s exclusive Atlantic Seaboard to entertain a string of lovers and friends.
One of Mashatile's largest benefactors is Edwin Sodi, the politically connected businessman currently on trial for charges of corruption and fraud linked to a R255-million Free State asbestos eradication tender, together with former Free State premier and now ex-ANC bigwig, Ace Magashule.
Mashatile, who is open about his ambition to supplant President Cyril Ramaphosa as the next head of state, has also perfected the art of attaining what appears to be beneficial ownership without having it registered in his name, nor does he pay directly for it, or explain the source of the benefaction. Regular companions and sources with direct access to Mashatile and his lifestyle say he almost never pays for anything directly out of his own pocket.