Daily Dispatch

Tender trouble in Mnquma

YESTERDAY we devoted our editorial to the outrageous situation in thirsty Butterworth after it emerged that the town’s reservoirs are in fact, not entirely dry but do have some water. However, only two people are allowed access to it – two private individuals who have been selling the water to residents for R600 per 2500-litre tank.

And on the front page of the same edition we reported that the Hawks are investigating other alleged abuses there – the awarding by Mnquma municipality of four lots of tenders which seem to have been grossly overinflated and/or improperly granted. One – for a Christmas tree, lights and some cable ties – was for a cool R1-million when the going price is estimated at around a quarter of the amount.

We will not delve into the details of the four tenders here except to say that Mnquma’s spokesman acknowledges “supply chain processes do not appear to have been followed”.

Thobile Stofile, the owner of Siyavuya Construction, the company granted the Christmas tree deal, has also confirmed that he was not present at the tender briefing for service providers, but was “head-hunted” by the municipality and asked to submit a quotation a week before being granted the contract.

What exactly happened and who is responsible is something for the Hawks to determine.

What is well established however, is the background. It was one of bitter fighting within the local ANC. Friction ramped up after the August election when a new mayor was appointed and a month thereafter the municipal manager Sindile Tantsi, was suspended.

This suspension was overturned in court earlier this month, but not before the ANC split apart so badly that a parallel council was formed, complete with designated officeholders. The council reunited only after the invention of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Fikile Xasa this month. How long this will hold is anyone’s guess. Tantsi says the alleged tender anomalies took place in his absence.

But the really big questions are what lies behind such massive dysfunctionality, and why does it seem that players in both Mnquma and the Amathole district municipality – which oversees Butterworth’s water supply – are losing sight of the reason for their existence.

In a nutshell, much of the friction in Mnquma is thought to be due to contestation over the control of tenders. And tenders are, to a large degree, the lifeblood of Mnquma.

The municipality is one the most densely populated in the Amathole district and it has relatively small but robust sectors of trade and commerce, transport and agriculture.

The biggest employer however, and the biggest contributor to the local economy by far – at around 40% – is the government.

This means the most money to be made is through winning government tenders.

And the most powerful people in Mnquma are those who disburse them.

Providing residents with the services they are due will require far more than reuniting Mnquma’s council and far more than properly professionalising both the Mnquma and Amathole municipalities.

It will require taking visible steps to build a viable, healthy economy, even possibly reviving the industrial hub of yesteryear. It will also demand a completely transparent tender disbursement processes. And if the pattern of malfunction continues, Mnquma municipality must be put under administration – something that should perhaps have happened long ago.