Amathole in tender interdict

THE Grahamstown High Court this week interdicted Amathole District Municipality (ADM) from implementing a R28-million security tender for its facilities in the eastern half of the district.

This comes after East London company Xhobani Security which came top in the evaluation processes and was recommended by ADM’s Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC), challenged the appointment of a security company which had come seventh.

Xhobani secured an interim interdict pending a high court application in which it seeks to have the tender reviewed and set aside. It says in court papers it will ask the court to award the tender directly to it.

The contract was awarded to Sita Security Services which was appointed after ADM authorities “irrationally ignored” the recommendations of their BEC. Sita was supposed to commence its three-year contract on Tuesday.

Sita was meant to safeguard the district’s sites in the eastern region which includes areas around Butterworth, Idutywa, Willowvale, Centane and Elliotdale.

The Dispatch has the ADM’s BEC report which shows Xhobani as a recommended service provider with top scores in the tendering process.

It also shows Xhobani quoted R27.3-million, R1.1-million less than Sita’s R28.4-million.

“Xhobani Security scored the highest points, has the necessary experience to undertake the work and is thus our recommended bidder,” the BEC report states.

However, ADM’s Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) decided otherwise and appointed Sita, even though they came seventh in the process which saw 21 companies vying for the deal.

The contract is to secure 36 sites, including satellite offices, water treatment works, fire services and water pump stations in their eastern region.

ADM spokesman Siyabulela Makunga said yesterday they could not reveal much as the issue was still under court scrutiny.

“Obviously it’s the right of any person affected by decisions of the municipality to approach the courts if they so wish.

“ADM, respecting this right, gave an undertaking not to implement this contract pending an outcome of the review. Accordingly, we cannot comment further at this stage as this is subjudice,” Makunga said.

According to court papers seen by the Dispatch, Xhobani had initially appealed the decision internally and after getting no joy from ADM, approached the court to prevent its implementation.

They also wanted ADM to review the award, saying the contract should have been awarded to them.

Judge Phakamisa Tshiki issued the interim interdict and indicated he would hand down reasons for his ruling at a later stage.

Attempts to reach Sita proved fruitless yesterday.

In an answering affidavit submitted to court by ADM’s legal services senior manager Neville Armstrong, ADM agreed to halt the three-year appointment, pending the determination of Xhobani’s review application.

However, Armstrong revealed that Sita would now be appointed on an “interim, month-to-month basis in order to ensure that the safety and security of our operations in affected areas, is not compromised”.

“The areas in question are notorious for their high crime rates. The provision of adequate security is therefore essential,” Armstrong said.

Sita had also applied for two other security contracts in ADM – securing the western and central regions, but were dismissed after their bids were classified as “non-responsive bids” because “they did not comply with special conditions of the tender”.

Eastern Guard Security was previously responsible for security in the eastern region but their contract expired last December before it was extended until March 31.

Xhobani’s lawyer Simphiwe Mbabane yesterday said it was illegal for ADM to treat the matter as an emergency and appoint Sita on an interim basis while they were still part of this dispute.

“This raises concerns as to why they are so desperate to employ this service provider. For us this frustrates the process which is in court.

“We do know what they are doing is illegal in that they were supposed to source three quotes for the month-to-month job. However, we are yet to discuss whether to challenge that or not,” Mbabane said. —