Public Protector flags irregularities in R22m Lesseyton Stadium, questions ’emergency’

Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka has found evidence of mismanagement in the construction of the controversial Lesseyton Sports Field in Komani, Eastern Cape.

In a report released on Wednesday following an investigation into allegations of maladministration and improper conduct, Gcaleka highlighted serious procurement issues involving the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality.

The sports facility, unveiled in October 2021, drew widespread public criticism due to its poor quality and the high cost associated with its construction.

A forensic investigation conducted by a law firm had revealed that the contract for building the stadium — awarded to construction company Thalami Civils — was irregular.

Public Protector investigation over Lesseyton Sports Field tender

On Wednesday, Gcaleka found that procurement irregularities in the awarding of the R22.7 million tender had been substantiated.

She pointed out that one key issue was that the project exceeded the R18.7 million budget approved by the Eastern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) in the 2017-18 financial year.

“The awarded tender exceeded the budgeted amount by over R4.7 million, and there is no evidence that the municipality approached the municipal council for additional funding as required by Section 19(1) of the Municipal Finance Management Act,” Gcaleka said.

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Additional procedural issues were also found during the tender process.

Gcaleka highlighted inconsistencies in the contract’s advertisement, revealing that it had two different closing dates and was not published on three publicly accessible platforms, as required by the municipal supply chain management policy.

“The tender advertisement period was shortened from 30 days to 14 days, and the reasons provided was that the construction of Lesseyton Sports Field was an emergency.

“The municipality’s definition of emergency in this regard is found not to be in line with the definition in terms of regulation 22(2) of the municipal supply chain management policy,” she remarked.

Bid evaluation process questioned

The Public Protector’s investigation uncovered irregularities in the bid evaluation process, including evidence that two separate evaluations took place.

“The first process resulted in bidder 1 being the preferred bidder, whereas the second process utilised a different formula provided by the BAC [bid adjudicating committee] and culminated in Thalami Civil, which was the fourth.”

Gcaleka questioned the rationale provided by the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality for bypassing the top-scoring bidder.

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The municipality had justified not awarding the tender to the highest scoring bidder by claiming the bidder had recently been awarded a similar contract.

“The reasons provided by the BAC did not amount to, I quote, ‘objective criterion’, and [were] not supported by any legal or rational authority.

“Moreover, this reason was not part of the evaluation criteria in terms of the specification or determined by the BEC [bid evaluation committee].”

Lack of oversight on Lesseyton Sports Field project

The Public Protector concluded that the appointment of Thalami Civils contravened section 2(1)(e) and (f) of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA), which mandates awarding contracts to the highest-scoring bidder unless objective criteria justify otherwise.

“The allegations that there were irregularities in the management of the contract and a lack of proper oversight on the Lesseyton Sports Field construction project by the local and provincial governments, resulting in no value for money, are substantiated,” Gcaleka added.

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