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Health
Collins Foromo’s R60 million Ekurhuleni toilet contract puts spotlight on his tender history
Businessman Tebadi Collins Foromo has come under renewed scrutiny after his company, TTTB Supplying and Construction, received nearly R60 million from the City of Ekurhuleni in payments linked to a mobile chemical toilet contract.
According to a News24 investigation published this week, TTTB has received just under R60 million from Ekurhuleni since July 2025. The payments are connected to a controversial mobile chemical toilet tender valued at about R1.8 billion.
The tender has attracted further attention because it was being investigated by Ekurhuleni chief forensic auditor Mpho Mafole before he was murdered in June 2025. Mafole had reportedly raised concerns about the procurement process shortly before his death.
Foromo’s earlier state contracts
Foromo’s involvement in government contracts dates back more than a decade, with his business activities previously documented in Limpopo.
In 2012, the Mail & Guardian reported that the University of Limpopo had confirmed awarding Foromo a R27.8 million tender for the conversion of a gymnasium into a laboratory. The contract was awarded in July 2011 and formed the first phase of a project estimated at about R60 million.
Foromo defended the award and rejected suggestions that political connections had influenced the contract.
“I bid for the tender like any other businessman who saw it in the newspaper, not because of the political connection.”
The university’s marketing and communications executive director, Kgalema Mohuba, said he was “unaware of this serious allegation” when questioned about claims surrounding the contracts.
The R917 000 pothole contract
Foromo was also linked to a Limpopo pothole repair contract worth R917 000.
Contemporary reporting by amaBhungane placed the payment within a broader investigation into Limpopo roads contracts and reported that Foromo received the money for pothole repairs. The reporting has since been repeatedly cited in accounts of his early tender history.
The R63 million tender investigation
Foromo was among several people arrested in November 2012 in connection with a Limpopo pothole tender investigation involving contracts worth about R63 million.
The Hawks alleged that contracts had been awarded under questionable circumstances. IOL reported that Foromo’s TC Foromo Trading Enterprise was among the companies that received contracts to repair potholes.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Paul Ramaloko said at the time: “Our investigations are continuing. We will make more arrests, some of them will not enjoy Christmas.”
Foromo and the other accused were granted bail after appearing in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court.
Being arrested and charged does not amount to a conviction. The historical case was later provisionally withdrawn by the National Prosecuting Authority, according to subsequent reporting.
Ekurhuleni contract remains under scrutiny
The latest developments have shifted attention back to Ekurhuleni, where TTTB’s payments form part of a much larger chemical toilet programme.
The City has faced criticism over its spending on temporary sanitation. In November 2025, the Freedom Front Plus said Ekurhuleni was spending R664.7 million a year on 46,321 chemical toilets. The party called for an independent forensic investigation into the contracts.
The Democratic Alliance in Gauteng has separately called for the report into the R1.8 billion chemical toilet tender to be tabled before Ekurhuleni council. The party said the report was compiled by Mafole before his death.
The latest News24 investigation has therefore renewed questions about how the Ekurhuleni contracts were awarded and which companies benefited from them.
At this stage, the documented record establishes that Foromo’s company has received nearly R60 million from Ekurhuleni since July 2025 and that his business has previously been awarded substantial public-sector contracts. It does not, on its own, establish that the Ekurhuleni payments were obtained unlawfully or that Foromo committed a criminal offence in relation to them.
The procurement questions, the forensic audit and the circumstances surrounding Mafole’s murder remain separate matters, and any criminal liability would ultimately have to be established through due legal process.
Economy
Vegetables disappear from South African plates when winter hits
As temperatures drop, breakfasts become toast instead of tomatoes, lunches lean towards bread and soup, and hearty dinners replace lighter meals. It’s an entirely human response to winter, but one that can leave vegetables falling further down the shopping list.
Every winter, South Africans naturally gravitate towards warm, comforting meals, but in the process, vegetables are often the first thing to disappear from the plate. Tenderstem® broccoli believes the solution isn’t convincing people to abandon comfort food but making it easier to build vegetables into the meals they’re already cooking. Convenience is the real fix: making the healthy choice the easy one. It is the thinking behind an approach that encourages South Africans to include quick-cooking vegetables such as Tenderstem® broccoli, which needs only a few minutes to prepare and can be added straight into meals already on the stove, rather than requiring a separate dish of their own.
Cold weather tends to draw us towards warm, filling foods, with bread, pasta and other carbohydrate-heavy favourites often becoming the easiest choice. The problem is not the comfort food. It is what gets pushed aside to make room for it.
The nutritional data reflects this pattern. According to South Africa’s National Nutrition Week, adults in this country already consume an average of around 230g of fruit and vegetables daily, which is just 58% of the internationally recommended 400g intake. That is the baseline in any season. In winter, when lighter meals feel less appealing and hot, filling food becomes the natural choice, vegetables can become even easier to overlook.
Diets low in fruit and vegetables are associated with a greater risk of non-communicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Winter also coincides with South Africa’s flu season, making a varied diet especially relevant. Vitamin C and folate both contribute to normal immune function and can be found in a range of fresh vegetables.
The answer does not require complicated dietary changes or extra time in the kitchen. It starts with building greens into the meals people are already eating.
Start the week differently
One practical way to improve winter nutrition is to remove the daily decision. A vegetable egg bake or frittata, prepared on a Sunday evening and portioned into the fridge, provides a filling breakfast containing protein, vegetables and fibre for several days. On a cold weekday morning, having something ready to reheat makes the nutritious choice the convenient one.
Brassica greens work particularly well in this format because they hold their texture when baked and release less water than softer vegetables such as courgette or spinach. Tenderstem® broccoli can be added whole, requires no trimming and is edible from floret to stem. Fold a generous handful into whisked eggs, add cheese if desired and bake at 180°C for 20 to 25 minutes. Once portioned, it can be reheated in minutes.
It also answers a familiar winter problem. Breakfast often defaults to buttered toast, cereal or a rusk when the weather is cold and time is short. Preparing a vegetable-based protein option in advance changes that routine without adding pressure to the morning.
Add to what you already cook
Quick-cooking green vegetables can be added to soups, curries and lentil dishes in the final few minutes of cooking, making them an easy part of familiar winter meals.
The key is to choose a vegetable that holds its texture, works with robust flavours and requires little preparation. Tenderstem® broccoli cooks in three to five minutes and can be used from floret to stem. Add it to a butter chicken or lamb curry shortly before serving, stir it through soup or place it in a roasting tray with the roast for the final ten minutes of cooking. Even a grilled cheese sandwich can make room for a few green stems.
Each option fits into a meal that is already being prepared, without requiring a separate dish or additional washing up. An 80g serving counts as one of your five-a-day and is high in vitamin C and folate, which contribute to normal immune function. It also provides fibre, potassium and vitamin B6. “People do not stop caring about nutrition in winter. They choose food that feels warm, filling and manageable. The easiest way to keep vegetables on the menu is to build them into those familiar meals rather than treating them as a separate side dish,” explains Elise Ruddle, Chef and Nutritionist, South African brand representative for Tenderstem®.
Winter eating does not need to become a contest between comfort and nutrition. The more realistic answer is to make vegetables part of the comfort food itself. When greens belong in the curry, soup, breakfast bake or toasted sandwich, eating them no longer depends on anyone feeling virtuous.
