Damning revelations from the phone of crime intelligence boss Maj-Gen Feroz Khan have prompted the National Treasury to start an investigation into the awarding of multimillion-rand tenders after its former chief director, Molefe Fani, was implicated in manipulating contracts. Fani was the Treasury’s acting chief procurement officer when a tender of more than R50m was awarded to Ismail Vally, an associate of Khan, in March 2022. The startling allegations of tender manipulation surfaced at the Madlanga commission this week as evidence discovered on Khan’s phone became public knowledge.Khan had sought to keep his phone and other electronic devices from being presented to the commission, unsuccessfully arguing that they had been unlawfully seized by the police.Read: From one Uno to 30 cars: Feroz Khan’s hand in R50m Treasury tender“The investigation will be conducted by external forensic investigators appointed by the department,” the National Treasury said in a statement on Wednesday. “It has been alleged at the Madlanga commission that a former employee improperly influenced the awarding of various transversal contracts during his time at the National Treasury.” Fani and Khan, who is in hospital after being shot in what police have said was an attempted assassination, have yet to give testimony on the allegations. The Madlanga commission, which is investigating allegations of criminal infiltration in law enforcement agencies, heard evidence that Khan allegedly received kickbacks linked to a R280m IT contract in 2021. The tender was awarded to the company Cyberia. Chats between Khan and tobacco company executive Mohamed Sayed reveal the duo were involved in the tender through Fani, who at that time worked at the National Treasury. Fani later moved to the SAPS as a lieutenant-general.In 2021, Fani was the Treasury’s chief director for transversal contracting. The division is the heart of the Treasury’s tender processes, facilitating public procurement agreements negotiated for government departments and municipalities.Also under scrutiny is the awarding of the R50m vehicle spare parts supply tender in March 2022 to Khan’s associate Vally. The Treasury awarded the three-year contract to supply spares for police vehicles to Vally’s company, Kaizen Motor Spares Distributors. Evidence before the commission shows Khan sent Vally a draft document of the vehicle spare parts tender in 2021 before it was published. Vally and Khan discussed that they needed the tender and that Khan should “talk to your guy” Fani to win the bid. In the correspondence, Fani is referred to by a codename, “Pilot”.Treasury documents show that Fani was the department’s acting chief procurement officer when the contract was awarded. The Treasury describes Fani’s position at the time as being responsible for the sourcing strategy, bid processing and awarding contracts.According to his affidavit in parliament, Fani worked at the Treasury for four years. Before that he was a procurement manager of African Exploration Mining and Financial Corporation, a state-owned mining company.Fani also worked on procurement strategies in transport minister Barbara Creecy’s office when she was at the Gauteng Provincial Treasury. “In light of the seriousness of the allegations presented, the National Treasury has initiated an investigation into the awarding of transversal contracts concluded during this period,” the Treasury said. “The investigation will test the veracity of the allegations made and, importantly, determine any measures needed to further strengthen the procurement and award processes within the transversal contracting system.“The National Treasury remains committed to transparency, accountability and integrity in public procurement and will take all necessary steps to ensure that any allegations of misconduct are thoroughly investigated and consequence management is applied.”Business Day