By OBAKENG MAJE
12 June 2026 – The North West MEC for Health, Sello Lehari has refuted allegations that he was involved in the sale of North West Transport Investment (NTI) buses. This comes after startling allegations surfaced on various social media platforms alleging that Lehari sold NTI buses, during his tenure as the North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management.
Lehari further said he strongly rejected and dismissed unfounded allegations circulating on social media alleging his involvement in the sale of NTI buses. He added that the allegations widely circulated on social media are devoid of truth, malicious and intended to tarnish his reputation and standing in society as a leader and as a Member of Executive (MEC).
“The department that was under my political leadership, exercised oversight over NTI, but did not participate in its day-to-day management or operational affairs. Like all State-Owned Enterprises (SoEs), NTI operates under its own governance structures and statutory mandates.
“The auctions conducted by NTI formed part of its operational responsibilities and were undertaken in accordance with its governance processes. Reports on these auctions were duly submitted to both the Executive Council (EXCO), in its capacity as shareholder representative, and the Portfolio Committee responsible for overseeing the department,” he said.
Lehari said it is important to also emphasise that during the period in question between 2018 to 2022, all departments were under national government, through the invocation of Section 100(1)(b) with administrators sent from national government to the province, as key decision-makers, in the running of the provincial government. He said it is also important to note that NTI has its own executive management board that runs the entity and reports to the administrator sent by the national government.
“It is therefore impractical that an MEC whose department is under administration can issue such an instruction or be involved, as wrongfully alleged. Prior to this malicious accusation, I had already submitted detailed responses, regarding all matters related to NTI to the Portfolio Committee on Community Safety and Transport Management,” said Lehari.
The Guardian 