Jo’burg fights over contracts

Leasing (Pty) Ltd trading as Avis Fleet Services for the supply and delivery of trucks and motorbikes for the City of Johannesburg.

“It has further come to our client’s attention that you have allegedly decided to extend the contract with Avis Fleet Services from 1 November 2019 until 30 September 2020 to ensure the availability of trucks and motorbikes for service delivery.”

It said the trucks and motorbikes should be sourced from Afrirent, or at least that the company be given the first option to provide such vehicles. “Our client has notified you that you had omitted to include trucks and motorbikes in the rate card, the same that appeared in the Avis rate card that our client is implementing … You are therefore warned not to proceed with the abovementioned deviation, and not to appoint Avis Fleet Services.”

Barloworld, on behalf of Avis, confirmed in a statement that in 2012 they were awarded a five-year contract for the trucks and motorbikes. “The contract ended in 2017 and was extended until 31 October 2019. Avis has recently been approached by the City to extend its supply of trucks and motorcycles under the A400A contract as these vehicles are essential to service delivery.”

But this is not the first seemingly sweet deal Avis has been handed by the City. In March, Avis was the beneficiary of another deviated contract worth R372-million to provide

Pikitup with “management services, ad-hoc rentals and maintenance of waste management vehicles” for the next 12 months on a month-tomonth basis.

The M&G has previously reported that the City has awarded R3.9billion in contracts without following the usual tender processes. Instead, it has relied on the muchcriticised deviation process.

All of the City’s fleet contracts have allegedly been awarded using the emergency deviation process. In July, the M&G reported on the increasing reliance on the deviation procedure, including for the purchase of 92 specialised fire and rescue vehicles from TFM Industries.

This contract was put on hold two weeks ago by the high court sitting in Johannesburg, after TFM Industries had delivered 25 fire engines.

Marcé Projects, which had bid for the same contract, approached the high court asking it to set aside the R500-million contract between the City and TFM Industries, which was also awarded the contract through the deviation process.

The court’s decision to interdict the signing of a contract, after it found there were grounds for a successful review of the award, leaves the City’s fire department with a shortfall of about 60 fire engines.

Modingoane said the court order may have a negative effect on the City’s fire fighting capacity.

Mlonzi said this matter was between the City and Marcé Projects, but that TFM Industries was appealing the judgment because it had already delivered 25 of the fire engines.