The eThekwini municipality is facing accusations of deliberately misleading the public over the R3.6-million tender.
The alleged misleading statements were exposed when the municipality’s spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana, told Sunday World that the decision to award the contract to a company owned by a former employee was taken with the approval of the political parties represented by council members.
On Friday Sisilana said: “The matter was unanimously approved by all political parties represented in council, including ActionSA, without debate. It is therefore disingenuous to raise concerns now.”
However, Mduduzi Nkosi of the IFP, who also serves as the councillor in the eThekwini municipality, has strongly denied this.
ActionSA dismisses statement
“This is nothing but pure lies. The law prohibits councillors from participating in tender processes.
“As politicians in the council, we cannot dictate who gets a tender. She is misleading the public, there were no such agreements,” said Nkosi.
ActionSA’s KZN leader, Zwakele Mncwango, also dismissed Sisilana’s statement. “I was never part of such a meeting.
“This is a blatant lie. What she’s suggesting is not even legally permissible, political parties cannot be involved in tendering processes.”
The tender in question was awarded to Mabanye Sport Consultants for providing public viewing screens during the Nedbank Cup final in May this year.
The match, which attracted multitudes, was held on May 10 at Moses Mabhida Stadium. It saw Kaizer Chiefs defeat archrivals Orlando Pirates 2-1.
Despite this, Sisilana refused to disclose the name of the service provider and ignored all related questions.
At that time, Sisilana said: “All reports pertaining to financial matters in the municipality are tabled before the relevant committee that is part of council procedures.
“Until the committee report is tabled at the relevant committee meeting, we cannot manufacture information and mislead the public.”
Two months later, July 25, Mncwango publicly disclosed that the tender had been awarded to Mabanye Sport Consultant without adhering to proper procurement procedures.
This was confirmed by the city manager, Musa Mbhele, who said: “A competitive procurement process was followed using the section 36 process, with approval granted through the single-source supplier mechanism.”
A document that was used to deviate from the procurement process corroborates Mbhele’s assertion.
Sisilana maintained there was no deviation
“The team had a limited amount of time to follow the full procurement process for a capable service provider to coordinate and manage the PVA, which is an essential requirement for hosting the Nedbank Cup Final.
“Furthermore, we won’t be able to request three quotations, as in the hosting of the Salga [SA Local Government Association] Games 2024, that process was followed, and only the recommended service provider was the most responsive with the lowest quote and provided the quality of similar infrastructure required.
“Due to time constraints and confidence in the suggested service provider’s ability to deliver an impactful program that will limit soccer fans to the MMS precinct on the Match Day.
“The head PRC, in collaboration with the head stadia and facilities unit, worked with the recommended service provider recently wherein a successful Salga game, which took place at the same venues identified by PVA, was well executed through the proposed service provider.”
Despite this evidence, Sisilana maintained there was no deviation.
“The appointment followed a competitive and transparent bidding process which was publicly advertised. All qualifying bidders were given equal and opportunity to participate.
“The most responsive bidder met the criteria set out in the bid specifications and demonstrated the necessary expertise to deliver on the project,” said Sisilana.
The inconsistencies were brought to Sisilana’s attention on Friday, and by Monday, 28 July, when she was asked to clarify them, she had still failed to do so.
