Millions blown to clean police floors
Company says R10m bill for 18 days’ work is just ‘small money’
● The embattled public works department splashed out more than R10m to refurbish the new Pretoria offices of national police commissioner Gen Khehla Sitole and “deep clean the carpets, tiles and floors”.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), the public works department’s implementing agent, awarded the contract to clean the three floors at Telkom Towers to Bicacon, a service provider in construction and maintenance.
The contract was for a two-week operation, although the company took 18 days to complete it.
Public works purchased the Telkom Towers building for R694m in August 2015.
The Sunday Times has seen the R10.4m invoice from Bicacon to public works. It includes R300,000 for “furniture placing” — which it defines as “move out of position, store and reposition on completion as per layout” — and R220,000 per floor for “supervision” of this process and of the cleaning.
The company’s work schedule, which the Sunday Times has seen, states that it started working on the three floors on March 5 this year and that the required tasks included cleaning windows, blinds, carpets and airconditioners; repairing ceilings and walls; removing rubble and furniture; and storing the furniture and replacing it once the cleaning was done.
A public works official, who asked not to be named, said the payment was “daylight robbery”.
“We paid R7.3m to refurbish the presidential official residence, which took months to finish, and then we pay R10m to clean three floors in less than 20 days. This is daylight robbery and a waste of taxpayers’ money,” the official said.
Approached for comment, the company’s owner, Mokgaetji Lekoana, told the Sunday Times: “I am not accountable to you.”
She refused to explain what work her company did for the R10.4m payment. “I was paid R10.4m, so what? I don’t owe you any explanation.”
Bicacon executive chairman Thabiso Lekoana said the company “wasn’t paid millions for just cleaning windows”.
“We also did some refurbishment of certain floors and some painting. Cleaning was part of it,” he said.
He said the company had completed the job in 18 days and had been paid R10m, but there was nothing remarkable about this.
“R10m in 18 days is small money. We did some work where we were paid R10m in three days and this R10m payment in 18 days isn’t abnormal,” he said.
Public works spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo told the Sunday Times this week the department had refurbished three floors of the Telkom Towers “for immediate occupation”.
He said the department had engaged DBSA to “prepare, as an interim movement, three executive floors, conference facilities, the cafeteria areas, receptions and parking”.
He said Bicacon had been awarded the contract after the stipulated procurement process.
“The contract duration was two weeks but it took the contractor 18 days to complete the work.”
Ngcobo said the contract was “not for cleaning but for preparation for occupation by the client’s executive and senior management”.
“This involved construction, repair and refurbishments. The full scope of work included deep cleaning, electrical and mechanical repairs, wet services and building work, which included painting, plumbing, and ceilings.”