A police investigation into former Independent Development Trust head Tebogo Malaka and her spokesperson Phasha Makgolane, who Daily Maverick filmed about six months ago allegedly offering a cash bribe to a journalist, is not yet 'trial-ready', but it is inching towards finalisation.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Western Cape has appointed a senior state advocate to prioritise the finalisation of a bribery investigation into former Independent Development Trust (IDT) head Tebogo Malaka and its spokesperson Phasha Makgolane.

This comes after Daily Maverick last year released video footage of Malaka and Makgolane allegedly offering a R60,000 cash bribe to its investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh.

Myburgh did not accept the money, while Malaka has denied knowledge of a bribe.

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'Attempt to bury a story'

Myburgh previously reported that Malaka "wanted to bury" a story about "a botched IDT Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) scheme".

It had involved prominent businessman Collen Mashawana and a property under construction for Malaka in Gauteng's Waterfall Country Estate.

Myburgh wrote that Mashawana channelled at least R200,000 into the property, "while his eponymous charitable foundation secured a R60-million contract from Malaka's IDT to run employment schemes for nearly 2,000 people across five provinces".

According to Myburgh: "Scores of the EPWP workers were ripped off by the Collen Mashawana Foundation, with some of them receiving only fractions of the salaries that were due to them."

Ongoing investigation

Days after publishing the alleged attempted bribery video in...