A Middelburg-based contractor, Joel Mahlangu of Mayivuthe Contractors CC, has denied using two companies to bid for electrical maintenance tenders in the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality.

This follows complaints by other companies after the municipality awarded the tender to Mayivuthe Contractors and Maqhoba Trading Enterprises.

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One of the aggrieved applicants, who opted to remain anonymous, said that, as far as he is aware, both companies belong to Mahlangu. “It is unfair for the municipality to award the tender to two companies that belong to the same individual,” said the source.

Mahlangu, however, responded that he does not own Maqhoba Trading Enterprises.

My company has been awarded tenders in the municipality over several years due to compliance. There is a rule within the municipality that, when a company is awarded a tender, it is required to subcontract to a start-up and incubate it. Maqhoba Trading is a company we mentored under that requirement. It has since become independent and no longer has any links to my company. Its tender bids are submitted at its own discretion and that of the municipality,” explained Mahlangu.

He added, “Maqhoba Trading Enterprises is free to tender as an independent and legal entity, which it did, and was duly awarded the contract. Mayivuthe Contractors is not involved in tender award decisions, which are made independently by the municipality.”

Another business owner suggested that Mahlangu and the municipal manager, Mandla Mnguni, are close associates and that this might have influenced the decision to appoint Mayivuthe Contractors.

Mahlangu said his relationship with Mnguni was purely professional, and that his company had been awarded tenders at the same municipality long before Mnguni was appointed municipal manager.

Attempts to reach Mnguni for comment were unsuccessful. Lowvelder will update readers as more information becomes available.