Road Tender Case To Be Heard Urgently

The long-running tussle for the P450 million Tshesebe-Mosojane-Masunga Road tender could reach finality next month after the Court of Appeal (CoA) decided that the matter ought to be expeditiously dealt with.

CoA’s Justice Isaac Lesetedi last Thursday ruled that the matter deserved an expedited hearing and ordered that the appeals be listed for hearing in the April 2021 Session of the CoA. This decision followed applications for an expedited appeal by Land Mark Projects, Van & Truck Hire (Pty) Ltd and the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) represented by the Attorney General.

PPADB, Land Mark Projects and Van & Truck Hire (Pty) Ltd have all launched cases with the CoA challenging a recent High Court judgement that ordered the Board to issue the Tshesebe-Mosojane-Masunga Road tender to one of the previously failed bidders, Cul de Sac.

When delivering his ruling, Lesetedi said he was satisfied that a case has been made for the granting of an order for the expedited hearing of the appeal.

Lesetedi said all factors favour the matter to be heard expeditiously to minimise the risk of loses.

He reasoned that over and above acting on the directive by the Chief Justice that all cases relating to public tenders should be treated as urgent, the project is of public importance.

He stated that the balance of convenience and prospects of success favour an early hearing of the appeal as it may bring to a close the dispute on the award of the tender.

“The community may then have its road if the appeal fails or wholly succeeds,” he said.

He argued that Cul de Sac has not demonstrated any prejudice it may suffer if the matter is heard expeditiously as it is not incurring any loss directly related to the implementation of the project.

Lesetedi also found that the High Court’s findings on illegality and irrationality on the part of the Independence Complaints Review Committee were based largely on disputed facts, which could be interpreted differently by a different court if put on a robust approach.

“This is more so because on a consideration of practicality of an expedited hearing of the appeal, the Court can be able to have it included in the April 2021 Session of substantive appeals and the judgement may be ready at the end of the session as is the norm. That will be a delay of less than two months, paling into insignificance when compared to the past delay,” Lesetedi argued.

The project implementation of this tender has been delayed for several years since it was awarded in 2016.