The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has welcomed a Special Tribunal ruling that has set aside an R85 million contract.
Image: Screenshot / SIU YouTube
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport (DoT) MEC Siboniso Duma has remained silent on whether his department has taken disciplinary action against officials involved in wrongly awarding an R85 million tender.
This tender, awarded to a joint venture of ISF Construction Services and Shula Construction (ISF Shula Joint Venture), was for the construction of a concrete wall along the Mozambique/KwaZulu-Natal border.
On April 1, the Special Tribunal set aside the tender.
The R85 million was for the joint venture to construct an 8km wall, but it only constructed 5.29km, leading the department to pay an additional R62 million for another company to complete the wall.
The tribunal found that the joint venture won the tender after supplying a fake B-BBEE certificate to the Bid Evaluation Committee.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) referred the matter to the tribunal after its investigation found serious legal deviations in the contract.
Responding to questions, Duma’s spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya said Duma would respond at the appropriate time, as he wanted to allow the SIU to complete its investigations.
He said Duma had raised concerns regarding the prolonged construction of the Jersey Barriers, and fraud and corruption associated with supply chain management processes linked to the project.
“He is happy that the matter is receiving the attention of relevant forums and authorities, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“MEC Duma welcomed the president's signing of the proclamation authorising the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) to investigate this matter and many others,” said Sibiya.
Shula’s lawyers, MB Pedersen & Associates, recently stated that their client has noted an appeal against the judgment to the High Court in Pietermaritzburg. But the lawyers could not say who launched the appeal.
“Due to attorney-client confidentiality, I cannot give you any other information without my clients' consent and have forwarded your email to them for instructions as to what statement, if any, they would like to make,” read the attorney’s response.
ISF said it will respond in due course as the matter is currently being handled by its legal team.
Public Works and Infrastructure MEC Martin Meyer said that as a DA MPL, he visited the borderline many years ago to inspect the project, which he found to have problems.
However, he said that this week, as MEC, he suggested to Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, whose department heads the Border Management Authority, that provincial Public Works get involved, but he is still waiting for the response.
“But you will have to speak to my colleague (Duma) in the Department of Transport, as they monitor that project in the province.
“As far as I know, that project is a partnership between the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and provincial Community Safety because it is about the car hijacking and the national department, but his department is not involved,” said Meyer.
The tribunal instructed the DoT to start disciplinary procedures within 30 days of the order against its officials who served on the Bid Evaluation Committee, “who, at the time of the granting of this order, had not been disciplined for their involvement in the awarding of the tender”.
The tribunal also ordered the joint venture to disgorge the profit they accumulated from the tender.
This was because the tribunal’s findings concurred with the SIU’s investigation that the joint venture’s B-BEE certificate was false and fraudulent, the allegations that the accused companies did not dispute.
“I find that the award of the tender to the ISF Shula Joint Venture was unlawful because a falsified and invalid B-BBEE certificate was provided.
“In respect of the expired Letter of Good Standing, the award of the tender to the joint venture was unlawful and falls to be set aside under the principle of legality," read Judge Fortuin’s judgment, which added that the joint venture did not comply with the financial capacity requirement, making its acquisition of the tender unlawful.
Among the department officials' shortcomings was paying the full amount of R85 million for the joint venture, despite completing only 74.7% of the work.
The department told the tribunal that its officials had no reason to suspect that the certificate was not issued by Inforcomm, a company that provides valid B-BBEE accreditation.
The department, according to the order tribunal’s order document, only inquired with the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) if Inforcomm was accredited to issue the certificate, but did not inquire if Inforcomm issued the certificate to the joint venture.
The certificate claimed to be valid ‘for 12 months from the date of issue’, issued on December 1, 2017.
“The expiry was 1 December 1, 2018, and not November 2018 as it should have been.
“The B-BBEE certificate submitted by the ISF Shuba does not contain any of the required details i.e. the name of the joint venture, the objective of the joint venture (typically in the form of the tender number), and the date of the commencement of the joint venture,” read the order.
bongani.hans@inl.co.za