Now that’s a blooming waste, says top judge
Chief justice says state gardening contract is a little too mulch
CHIEF Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has described a new contract for the upkeep of the garden at his official residence as “shockingly excessive”.
The Department of Public Works awarded a R5.8-million gardening contract to a company on October 20 to maintain his garden for the next three years as well as those at three other state-owned properties in Johannesburg.
The chief justice lives in a state-owned home in the exclusive suburb of Sandhurst, Johannesburg.
The deal with Gau Flora works out to about R488 392 for each of the four gardens annually. It is just over five times the R90 000 a year the department pays for the upkeep of the 12ha grounds at Western Cape premier Helen Zille’s official residence, Leeuwenhof.
Public works confirmed that a further three gardening contracts, totalling more than R31million, were awarded to three other companies for the upkeep of 30 gardens at ministerial homes in Pretoria.
Mogoeng’s garden at his official residence covers about 0.4ha of land. The double-storey house was bought by the Department of Public Works, on behalf of the government, from the Oliver Tambo Family Trust in 2010.
Among the duties that the gardeners will perform are:
Removing dead and damaged trees; ý Pruning trees and palms; ý Removing certain invader plants;
Maintaining the swimming pool, water features and the fish ponds; and
Treating the lawns. The other gardening contracts awarded by public works, including two in September and one in October, for the ministerial homes in Pretoria are:
R12.6-million to Bidvest Management Solutions for 10 gardens in Waterkloof Ridge;
R9.5-million to Malithaba Construction and Mirasi Trading & Projects for 12 gardens in Brooklyn and Waterkloof; and
R9-million to Servest Group for eight gardens in Waterkloof Heights.
In an SMS to the Sunday Times, Mogoeng said: “I am not aware of the tender for the garden at my official residence. Although I am not familiar with pricing for garden services in Johannesburg, I think the amount of R488 392 is shockingly excessive for the upkeep of one garden.”
Nathi Mncube, spokesman for the judiciary, said the maintenance of buildings owned by the state was the responsibility of public works.
When Gau Flora MD Mulalo Thabela was asked whether he believed the contract of R5.8million for the four Johannesburg gardens was “shockingly excessive”, he referred queries to public works. “I’m more on the strategic level. I won’t know what happens with the operations. I won’t go as deep as knowing where Mogoeng Mogoeng’s garden is, how much it is. I play an executive role.”
Bidvest Management Solutions, Malithaba Construction and Mirasi Trading & Projects declined to comment.
Zille’s spokesman, Michael Mpofu, said the upkeep of the gardens at Leeuwenhof also involved “maintaining the complex irrigation system and drainage arising from the natural stream under the property from Table Mountain”.
These recently awarded gardening contracts form part of the expanded public works programme that requires companies to employ programme beneficiaries. The workers would be paid R130 a day in the first year, R145 in the second year and R160 in the third year.
A 45-page document outlining the job of the contractors warns contractors that they would be held liable for damage to trees, plants and shrubs. Workers, on the other hand, are warned not to “wander around aimlessly” on the grounds or make use of chairs in the public areas to relax “even over lunch times”.
It cost the government more than R127-million in the past financial year for the upkeep and maintenance of the parliamentary villages as well as all residential houses of the president, deputy president, ministers and their deputies.