ANC man in tender mire
NGALONKULU LINKED TO WINNER
DEPUTY chief whip of the ANC in the City of Johannesburg, Justice Ngalonkulu, is facing allegations of having an inappropriate relationship with Zero Defect Trading, a contractor that is involved in the R170m Alexandra smart metre project.
Sunday World has established that Ngalonkulu cruises around in a convertible BMW 335i registered to Zero Defect Trading, owned by Dan Dlamini.
Some neighbours say he got the car sometime after the World
“Cup ”. One says before then he drove a VW Golf.
A staffer at the Johannesburg Civic Centre, where Ngalonkulu works, also recognises the car and recalls that he used to drive a Golf.
Ngalonkulu denies all the allegations against him, saying the company bought the car on his behalf. Even an MMC (member of the “mayoral committee) would not be able to fix a tender. I don t have the power to do “’ that, says Ngalonkulu, adding
” that he made a legitimate deal with the owner of Zero Defect, whom he has known for a long time. I bought the car through “Dlamini because of a problem I had. I pay instalments for it every month and it has been declared to the Integrity Commission because I knew that this day would come,” he explains.
He says he and City Power MD Nkanyiso Msomi are not friends but he knows him through his duties as a councillor. Anyway, as far as I know, no “tender has been awarded for the Alexandra electrification project since the last one that was scrapped,” he says. So Dlamini has not won any “tender. Zero Defect was among the 20 other companies that were contracted by City Power some three years ago to fix meters as and when the need arose.
I wasn t even a councillor by “’ then, I was still in the Eastern Cape.
’’ Ngalonkulu says he withdraws money from his account every month to pay Dlamini, who then issues him with a receipt.
I did this in case I ever needed “to prove that the deal was above board.”
When Sunday World visited Zero Defect Trading offices, we were told that Dlamini was not in.
And Msomi would neither confirm nor deny being friends with Ngalonkulu.
He deferred all questions to spokesperson Sol Masolo, who could not be reached for comment.
The project was first awarded to a company called Grinpal in 2002.
The contract was to replace outdated household electricity meters with advanced prepaid ones to stop electricity theft.
Sources say in April last year Grinpal was jettisoned by City Power for alleged wrongdoing, though the company was never prosecuted, and new companies were appointed.
Among the new contractors were Zero Defect, Minco Bazangena, Mashau and Devtec.
Last week more than 20 Grinpal former employees stormed the City Power s Reuven office demand
’ ing that they be incorporated as City Power employees from September last year as per a court order .
Sunday World understands that City Power has appealed the decision leaving the former employees
– without an income for five months. He told them to appoint Zero “Defect because he has an association with them,” says one of the employees.
Some of the men claim they have been threatened.
mzwandile@sundayworld.co.za