Joburg wants firm to account for millions paid to it
The company accused by Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba of having nothing to show for R66-million paid to it for construction of a substation, has instead claimed to be owed a further R50-million.
Mashaba has come hard on Setheo Engineering which was awarded a R126-million tender two years ago to construct a sub-station in Eldorado Park. There’s a face-brick structure and four transformers – which apparently cost about R9-million each – at the project site. The transformers still needed to be connected before the project was apparently deserted weeks ago.
Setheo has in turn accused Mashaba of deliberately trying to “completely destroy” it through his “unrelenting attacks and deliberate efforts” to drag its name through the mud.
“The only point of agreement we have with the mayor is that indeed Setheo Engineering was paid R66-million.
“However, these were not forward payments but rather milestone payments for work done and equipment purchased,” Setheo’s spokesman and legal advisor, Tavengwa Mukono, said.
Mashaba this week accused Setheo of non-performance in another R44-million contract, this time for allegedly failing to work on the city’s Hopefield power station.
“The contractor has been paid R22-million by the city to date, despite this payment already being made, only an estimated R1.5-million worth of work has been done,” Mashaba said.
Setheo claims lack of payment by City Power was the main cause of the delays at the two projects.
“More importantly, to date the value of work carried out by Setheo Engineering on the Eldorado substation is valued at over R116-million. This has been independently verified by qualified engineers.”
Mukono showed Sowetan City Power documents and a report by consultants which showed that it was owed more than R50-million.
Two City Power project managers appeared in Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court on Monday afternoon after their arrest by the Hawks. They were each granted R15 000 bail. Their arrests are related to corruption allegations relating to the Eldorado Park substation contract.