Eastern Cape Education Department head Sharon Maasdorp, left, and Khumzi Investments director Sakie Sakhumzi Magele.
At 4.11am on a Thursday, 100 top managers in the Eastern Cape education department were ordered at short notice to clear one company's R18.5m account within four days.
And though the account was treated as a matter of urgency, IOL can today reveal that more than half the balance was less than 30 days old, and not yet overdue.
The company is Khumzi Investments, whose sole director, Sakie Sakhumzi Magele, now owns Daily Dispatch, The Herald and the rest of the province's former Arena Holdings newspapers.
IOL has seen the email, sent on June 26, 2025 to departmental official Amos Tamsanqa Fetsha and 99 other top management members.
