Disturbing trail of contracts for pals, fraud and murder
In a series over three days, The Star’s senior journalist Baldwin Ndaba reveals graft, tender-rigging and mismanagement of ratepayers’ money running into hundreds of millions of rand in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality in Vryburg, North
SENIOR officials of the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality in Vryburg, North West, have been accused of channelling millions of rand to companies owned by people known to them.
The allegations were reported to the Hawks in June. Included in the accusations were that senior officials, particularly municipal manager Zebo Tshetlho, were instrumental in the awarding of tenders on a roster system, instead of putting them out for competitive bidding.
Most of these companies belonged to the late billionaire Wandile Bozwana and his friends.
Bozwana was killed in a drive-by shooting on the N1 in Pretoria last Friday.
The auditor-general found the municipality had failed to provide details of contracts given to Bozwana’s companies, as well as other entities, and that made it difficult for the office to find that the municipality had got value for its money.
The auditor-general also found there was no competitive bidding for most of the tenders and the municipality had used a roster system to award critical tenders.
The roster system was the brainchild of the municipality’s former chief financial officer David Thornhill.
Thornhill has since resigned and taken a similar job at Naledi Local Municipality, also in Vryburg.
Tshetlho and Thornhill have been accused of conniving with service providers and giving them huge contracts. Some of the beneficiaries of these contracts were allegedly closely linked to the councillors and municipal officials. Allegations are that the contractors financed the lavish lifestyles of some of them.
In their declarations of interests to the council, some councillors and officials confirmed owning businesses and other properties but denied allegations that these were as a result of the contractors.
Their houses and cars were valued at millions of rand.
The Star conducted its own investigation and found that the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality had awarded contracts worth millions of rand to certain companies, but the amounts had been reduced when they were tabled before a full district council meeting for approval.
No tender procedures were followed.