City of Tshwane councillors yesterday finally adopted a forensic report established to probe tender irregularities that cost the city nearly R300m, a move that allows for the city to lay criminal charges and internal disciplinary charges against officials involved in the awarding of the tender which went to known ANC benefactor Edwin Sodi’s company.
Council had thrice before tried and failed to get the report adopted with the major parties in the DA-led chamber exchanging blame for the failure to deliberate on the report and decide on whether to adopt it.
The forensic report recommends that least five City of Tshwane senior officials should face criminal charges for their part in allowing irregular tender procedures that cost the Tshwane ratepayers nearly R292m in what was supposed to be spent on the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant providing clean water to Hammanskraal, north Pretoria.
The five were members of a bid evaluating committee (BEC) whose failures to follow proper processes caused the city to incur the irregular expenditure.
“The failure by the BEC to evaluate tenderers in accordance with [applicable] clause resulted in the CMS, NJR and Blackhead JV being appointed as the successful bidder. Thus, the expenditure in terms of this tender to the value of R291,996,799.07 was irregular, in line with section 1 of the Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003.”
The report named BEC members and said they were “liable for the above-mentioned irregular expenditure in line with the provisions of section 32(1)(c) of the Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003”.
In 2019, the SA Human Rights Commission had to intervene in the Hammanskraal water crisis, and conducted tests with the help of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, which found that tap water in the area was not safe for human consumption.
The Rooiwal water treatment plant multi-phase project was undertaken to upgrade and improve the waste treatment plant, which led to sewage or poor treated waste water getting discharged into the river, which feeds into the Leeukraal Dam, a source of water for Hammanskraal.
“I am pleased to notify our residents that today the City of Tshwane Council adopted the Rooiwal investigative report. The report was commissioned by my office after several issues were raised with regard to operations and the tendering process pertaining to Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant,” said Tshwane mayor Randall Williams in a statement yesterday.
The steps council and law enforcement take following the report could have implications for the culture of impunity in government where politicians and officials have often gotten away with not accounting for missing or even stolen monies leaving communities that were named as beneficiaries worse off.
The officials implicated in the report formed part of the municipality’s bid and evaluation committee that recommended CMS Water Projects, NJR Projects and Blackhead Ventures be appointed for phase one of the construction project, which started in October 2019.
The report is, however, silent on the municipality recouping the funds. Instead, Ligwa Advisory Services, which was appointed to conduct the investigation, recommends the City’s municipal public accounts committee write-off R147,820,900.83 that was paid to the contractor from July 2020 to March 2022.
“The accounting officer in consultation with Group Human Capital should consider taking appropriate disciplinary action against the members of the bid evaluation committee for negligently causing the irregular expenditure to the value of R291,996,799.07,” reads the report.
moyaf@sowetan.co.za
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