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Veterans want answers on water supply tender

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Veterans belonging to the Zabalaza Trust (from left) Delani Mzolo, Frank Khanyile and Snothi Mlangeni are disputing the procedure in which a water tender was given to another bidder
PHOTO: TEBOGO LETSIE
Veterans belonging to the Zabalaza Trust (from left) Delani Mzolo, Frank Khanyile and Snothi Mlangeni are disputing the procedure in which a water tender was given to another bidder PHOTO: TEBOGO LETSIE

A group of military veterans are demanding answers from the Umzinyathi District Municipality for cancelling a water supply tender they had successfully won in Msinga, east of Ladysmith in KwaZulu- Natal.

Instead, the tender was given to a disqualified bidder using emergency powers.

The veterans’ Greytown-based Zabalaza Trust collaborated with Durban company VNA Consulting to form a consortium called Nexo Joint Venture (Nexo JV).

Nexo JV was the successful bidder for a tender for a regional water purification plant in Sampofu, Msinga, to improve the water supply to rural communities during the prolonged drought.

A report by the municipality’s bid adjudication committee on December 24 recommended that Nexo JV be awarded the tender for R43.3 million to build the plant within 24 weeks of moving on site.

While Nexo JV’s bid was the second most expensive, it got the highest score in terms of the municipality’s rating system, according to the report.

However, the tender was cancelled by municipal manager Michael Ntombela in January and was awarded instead to AquaPlan Fransi Masedi JV, which was one of the bidders that failed to make the grade for the tender.

According to the bid adjudication committee report, AquaPlan was ruled “nonresponsive” and not suitable for recommendation because it had scored below the municipality’s cutoff percentage of 75%. AquaPlan also allegedly had an expired tax certificate.

Ntombela defended giving the contract to AquaPlan using regulation 32 of municipal supply chain regulations, which allowed for emergency awarding of contracts without following tender procedures.

In a series of emails in response to questions from City Press, Ntombela said that the decision to cancel the tender was “a management decision” to use its powers for the benefit of the community.

He said the bid adjudication committee only had powers to recommend a tender winner. And before undertaking the regulation 32 appointment, management thoroughly checked the documents and then appointed AquaPlan.

“Guard against being used by people to fight their own battles from the position of ignorance. Regulation 32 was applied to expedite the process of implementing the said project as quickly as we could in order to deal with the scarcity of water during the prevailing drought conditions in our district. There was demonstrable discount and benefit for the community,” he said.

Ntombela described the reason for the cancellation of the original award as “classified”, saying that only if ordered to do so by a court would he disclose all the information.

Zabalaza Trust secretary Delani Mzolo told City Press that the organisation’s 35 members stood to benefit from a 10% stake in the tender and through jobs on the project.

“We have been to the ANC region, the premier’s office is aware of this, but nobody is giving us answers. Now we are out in the cold,” Mzolo said.

“The province has been promoting a policy where projects involving veterans should be given a share of government business. What has happened here is unfair and out of line with our own government’s policies.”

Rakesh Maharaj, head of VNA Consulting, said they found it “very strange” that the council cancelled the tender.

“We won this tender fair and square ... We believe that we had a very good chance because our bid was competitive. We don’t think this is ethical at all,” he said.

Maharaj said that they had not been officially notified of the cancellation.

“We want to take this further. We will seek reasons as to why the municipality decided to allow us to waste time and money to make a successful bid, only to then go for a [different] process.”

Maharaj also said they went into a joint venture with Zabalaza and formed Nexo JV to help the veterans survive.

“These guys are broke. They have no money and don’t have means of putting food on the table. They are people who have made a contribution to this country and have nothing to show for it. This was our way of helping them and meeting our social responsibility at the same time,” Maharaj said.

AquaPlan managing member Johan Bieseman said the company was “elated” at securing the contract and had already started the initial work on it.

“This is the first time we have heard about any controversy about this,” he said.

“We have been in the business of providing water for 20 years and are confident that the people are going to have water, and will get a quality service at a competitive price. This is what we do.”

Bieseman denied that AquaPlan’s tax clearance certificate was not up to date, saying it had been good “for the past 20 years”.

He added that AquaPlan had been part of the initial tender, but was not aware of who was recommended by the bid adjudication committee.

“I am amazed that you are calling me about this ... We are as above board as can be,” Bieseman said.

Meanwhile, the municipality is going through a political crisis; it is currently without a mayor due to political infighting in the ANC’s Inkosi Bhambatha Region.

The party is struggling to replace the former mayor, James Mthethwa, who was redeployed last year to the National Council of Provinces following embarrassing public comments on same-sex relationships.

At the same time, the Inkatha Freedom Party has made it difficult for the ANC, which does not have an outright majority to govern the municipality, to elect a new mayor because it has staged repeated walkouts, leaving the hung administration with insufficient numbers to legitimately replace the mayor.

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