Co-operative Governance Minister Pravin Gordhan recently announced that he will be requesting the Gauteng Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to investigate the allegations of tender irregularities within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM).
It is alleged that road and transport tenders worth just over R100-million were awarded irregularly by the metro.
EMM city manager, Mr Khaya Ngema, has been implicated in the irregular awarding of the tender and is being investigated by the Public Protector.
Edenvale ward councillor, Clr Bill Rundle, said despite these allegations having been raised in 2013, no concrete action had been taken by the municipality to investigate the matter.
“The lack of action from the metro municipality suggests that senior officials are trying to cover up corruption and irregularities related to the awarding of these tenders,” said Clr Rundle.
The Public Protector’s Office has revealed that Mr Ngema is implicated in contracts that were signed off by him to companies allegedly with close associations to senior municipal employees.
The Public Protector further revealed that Mr Ngema allegedly signed off numerous contracts over R10-million without consultation and he signed off contracts to companies that did not have the capacity to deliver. The contracts were inflated at the last minute, so companies were paid far above the initial price.
“It was crucial that we get answers on these serious allegations. Minister Pravin Gordhan’s announcement that he will be requesting MEC Jacob Mamabolo’s department to investigate these accusations is therefore a welcomed step in the right direction on this matter.
“We therefore call on executive mayor Gungubele to consider suspending all those implicated in this matter, included Mr Ngema, pending the outcome of the provincial department’s investigation,” said Clr Rundle.
Executive Mayoral Spokesperson for the EMM, Mr Zweli Dlamini, said the EMM has not received any information concerning an investigation.
“We, however, stand ready to cooperate with any authority tasked with conducting an investigation,” said Mr Dlamini.
He said Ekurhuleni is one of only two metros in the country to receive a clean audit in the past financial year.
“This is on the back of four unqualified audit reports which each time represented an improvement over the past financial years. This demonstrates that the financial and administrative sections of the metro are pulling in the right direction. We have the best practices in Supply Chain Management,”said Mr Dlamini.
He said the EMM is currently piloting an open bid process which will see tenders adjudicated in public.
