Fire and rescue vehicles tender process unconstitutional -High Court
The executive mayor assures residents that the City will move swiftly to procure fire and rescue vehicles and will do so in a legal, transparent and competitive manner, which is a departure from past practice under the previous administration.
On March 29, the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court in Johannesburg handed down judgment according to an earlier order of invalidity made about the City’s tender process for the procurement of 92 fire and rescue vehicles (‘the red fleet’).
This order stems from the judgment of the High Court, handed down on June 2 last year, where it declared the tender process for the procurement of the red fleet, the decision to award the tender, and the subsequent contract between the first respondent and the second respondent tender unlawful and constitutionally invalid.
The declaration of invalidity was suspended by the High Court pending its determination of a just and equitable remedy under section 172(1)(b) of the Constitution.
“The City of Johannesburg under the former mayor and councillor, Michael Sun, paid R172-million for fire engines that were and still are desperately needed by the City but that were never delivered and were procured on defective specifications,” he said.
Mlimandlela Ndamase, director of mayoral communications, said in his statement that these illegal, irregular and unconstitutional procurement processes that characterised the DA/EFF reign of impunity in the City have led to the City accumulating a record R3.5- billion in unauthorised, irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 financial years.
“It has thus been shocking that the DA would have the audacity to accuse this administration of being unresponsive to the fire and rescue needs of the City when its administration mismanaged close to R200-m intended specifically for these same vehicles. They lack the credibility, let alone ethical standing to question a government that is determined to act against malfeasance and the kind of delinquency and ignorance for law and process that thrived from 2016 in the City.
“We are pleased that the courts have ordered that the fire engines paid for by the City be delivered within 60 days and that the remainder of the order for remaining vehicles was declared legally invalid, cancelled and terminated forthwith.
“The judgment now opens the way for the City to undertake a legal and competitive process in line with section 217 of the Constitution for the procurement of fire and rescue vehicles to meet the current requirements and mitigate the risk currently suffered by residents,” he said.
The executive mayor assures residents that the City will move swiftly to procure fire and rescue vehicles and will do so in a legal, transparent and competitive manner, which is a departure from past practice under the previous administration.
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