Officials, owner respond to PwC findings

If the normal tender process was not halted and a deviation was not signed, violence among SMMEs would have continued with service delivery grinding to a complete halt.

This was the reason given by economic development boss Anele Qaba when asked why he had requested that the tender process to appoint a middleman be cancelled only for a deviation to be signed off by him the next day.

Qaba was responding to findings in a PwC report that probed how Moximark (Pty) Ltd, trading as SK Business Consultants (SKBC), was appointed to provide socioeconomic consultancy services.

“Taking into consideration the challenges posed by SMMEs, threats to lives, destruction of public infrastructure, halting of service delivery by SMMEs, I would not say that deviating from the normal process was an abuse of the supply chain management process, but rather a decisive step to urgently address these challenges,” he said.

A number of people were murdered in the city in what police suspect was a killing spree linked to infighting among the SMMEs.

This came after the municipality awarded a R21m draincleaning project in 2018 to two companies that were already on its supply database and had existing contracts with the city.

Hundreds of SMMEs were hired for the project.

According to a leaked audit report compiled by the two companies, more than R4m of the money meant for SMMEs is unaccounted for.

“Had we not deviated and got a service provider in place on an urgent basis, matters could have escalated and resulted in possible further loss of lives, destruction of public infrastructure, continued threats on municipal staff and delays in service delivery,” Qaba said.

He also referred some questions to city manager Noxolo Nqwazi, who was acting in the post at the time, as she endorsed the deviation.

Nqwazi confirmed she approved the deviation but this was based on the motivation for urgency by Qaba’s department which was also presented and approved by the bid adjudication committee.

“It remains the responsibility of the economic development, tourism and agriculture department to manage the contract and make payments based on evidence of work

done. The municipal manager resolution signed by myself as acting city manager (ACM) was for six months only and was based on the department going out to tender through normal SCM [supply chain management] processes to appoint a service provider and not a further 12 months deviation,” she said.

Qaba said another reason for cancelling the normal tender process was that other departments did not commit the required budget for the project to go ahead during a three-year period.

“It is important to note that the decision to cancel was taken after consultations with directorates which began after the bid evaluation committee meeting of November 6 2019,” he said.

He said the expression of interest required budget commitment from departments for a period of three years.

“Committing the municipality to a contract in which the specifications or requirements were clear that the budget should have come from various directorates which they could not confirm or commit to would not be in line with SCM processes and financial management policies,” Qaba said.

He said it became necessary for his department to look at various options to deal with the issues.

“The department came up with an urgent short-term intervention wherein it had to identify funds that could be possibly used to bring stability.

SKBC owner Sicelo Kubashe said his company had been “used”, but did not elaborate on how.

“I didn’t even know the report is out. But I still regard this as an internal matter,” Kubashe said.

Asked why he had purchased a tender document but did not make a bid, Kubashe said: “As a private company that is operating out there, I only respond to what people [requested] of me.

“If that person prefers me, I cannot be in control of that.

“I am not aware of any preference or whatever during the process.

“There were two contracts. “For the one contract I was asked to submit a proposal and this was in an emergency type [deviation].

“The other one was a tender [the three-year contract] which we responded to.

“That is how any company would respond, but how it was then managed, I won’t have those details.”

He said the drama about his company’s appointment had negatively affected his business.

“I feel bad about my company being dragged into this.

“You do work for the municipality and then you find yourself being used. It is not a nice thing. It’s bad.

“My company was growing and we had employed 20 people.

“All of a sudden those people lost their jobs because everything was at a standstill,” Kubashe said.

Bid evaluation committee chair Wandisile Makwabe said he could not respond to questions properly as he had not seen the PwC report.

“My understanding is that such reports are processed by council.

“I am not aware of any acts of negligence on my part in my capacity as the chair of the committee and if there is such, it has not been brought to my attention,” Makwabe said.