MUNICIPAL manager Dr Moeketsi Mosola was yesterday set to meet the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to hand over tons of documents related to the controversial tender issued to engineering company GladAfrica last year by the City of Tshwane.
Mosola disclosed the meeting with the SIU during a media briefing at Tshwane House, where he also invited journalists go through the same documents.
“These documents will be available in my office. Any member of the media who wants to peruse them is welcome to come here to go through the documentation."
However, he said no one could make copies of the documents because they included people's private information.
Mosola’s decision to open the tender documents to public scrutiny was made in the wake of wide-ranging media reports that he flouted the City’s procurement processes in appointing the service provider.
The move was made to justify the City’s steps to choose Glad-
Africa from the 26-strong panel of service providers obtained from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).
The service provider was hired to assist with project management capacity during the roll-out of infrastructure projects.
Mosola said the appointment was done in line with Regulation 32, which provided for the procurement of goods and services under contract secured by other organs of state.
He said the executive adjudication committee had approved 26 service providers in three categories; namely Infrastructure Planning and Project Management, Project Implementation Support and Associated Project Support Services.
Mosola said that ordinarily he would not make comments about the City’s internal documents or circulars issued to his colleagues.
“However, in this case I will make this exception because some media reports are citing some of the internal documents have been leaked and misquoted in the media.”
The City’s supply chain management processes were followed to the letter and media reports claiming any transgressions were baseless, Mosola said.
He was adamant that the City complied with the legislative prescripts governing its supply chain management as well as the Municipal Finance Management Act.
“The supply chain management division strictly followed the City's processes and procedures of appointing a service provider, in this case Ariya Project Managers (GladAfrica) from a panel of service providers," Mosola said.
The tender in question was issued to assist the City in rolling out its infrastructure delivery programme. “It is important to note that the intention was to appoint a single service provider with the tools and capacity of project management skills to resolve the problems identified in my report presented to the mayoral committee on May 17, 2017,” Mosola said.
There had not been any additional service requirement, except the capacitation and support as part of the stabilisation of the City’s administration, he added.
“In giving effect to the resolution of August 16, 2017, and ensuring that the departmental requirements are met, detailed specifications were drafted. These focused on the requirements for appointing a service provider to assist, support and advise City departments with various programme/project management and engineering services,” he said.
Executive mayor Solly Msimanga, who was at the briefing, said the investigation he instituted into the deal would proceed as planned. “I have a duty, as head of the executive, to satisfy myself that all due process (was) followed and to decisively address any and all wrongdoing that may have occurred.”
Msimanga said he had noted Mosola’s statement, but it didn’t change the process that must unfold, which included applying his mind to all the evidence.
“If there is any merit to the allegations about the irregular appointment of the project management service provider, I will not hesitate to refer this matter to the municipal council for further investigation and action," Msimanga said.