Contract for pauper burials to be extended

THE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is temporarily extending the contract of its previous service provider for pauper burials.

This comes as bodies pile up in state mortuaries, with the municipality unable to continue with pauper burials due to an ongoing tender dispute.

The debacle stems from an objection lodged by one of the companies that tendered for the contract, NQK Communications and Consulting.

Until the tender issue is resolved, the municipality cannot provide the crucial service.

Municipal spokesman Kupido Baron said the municipality was in a precarious position as it was trying to resolve the matter as quickly as possible but was also compelled to follow supply chain processes.

“We approached Livingstone Hospital for assistance through their contract and since their internal processes to achieve [this] could also be lengthy, we opted to extend the contract of our previous service provider on a temporary basis.

“We are now in the process of dealing with compliance issues before arranging for a sitting of the Bid Adjudication Committee to approve a temporary three-month contract with the previous service provider until the legal issues pertaining to the objection are resolved,” Baron said.

The metro said it had processed 30 applications from the public for pauper burials but could not assist until the matter was sorted out.