Metro welcomes PEU smart meter probe
Tshwane metro mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said he will await communication from the MEC and supply him with all the information he may need regarding the PEU smart meter investigation.
Tshwane metro has welcomed the forensic investigation into the infamous PEU smart meter scandal by Pravin Gordhan, minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta). On Thursday, Gordhan announced that he had ordered the Gauteng MEC for local government Jacob Mamabolo to launch an investigation into the contract and provide a progress report within 30 days.
Mayoral spokesperson Blessing Manale said the minister instituted the investigation because he had applied his mind on the matter and the metro would cooperate fully with the probe. “The mayor [Kgosientso Ramokgopa] will await further interaction from the MEC to ensure that the metro fully cooperates with the department in acquiring the relevant information it requires for the purpose as sought by Cogta,” he said.
While the probe was underway, Manale said the metro remained on course with the process of ensuring that a new dispensation was in place by February 2016. “We have a competent multidisciplinary team managing the tender process for a new procurement process to obtain a replacement service provider. This process commenced on 1 July 2015 and will be concluded by 31 December 2015. Therefore, any new partner is expected to take over from PEU in February 2016.”
According to Manale, the new procurement process and scope covered the following:
– A probity process to cover due diligence, compliance and governance issues,
– Financial modelling on commission from collections including threshold determination of milestone payments, and
– A valuation of current infrastructure and system with its associated intellectual property (IP) for transfer purposes of, inter alia – funding costs, development costs, roll-out costs, costs related to ownership and operating costs.
Manale said for the duration of the procurement process, the metro would ensure that all interested parties were informed and empowered to create a conducive environment for transparency, investor solicitation and broad-based participation.
“We have acknowledged that the situation we found ourselves in is undesirable and has constrained and contributed to the slow take-off of the project. but [if] truth be said, the critical disruption of the roll-out has been as a result of the protracted legal challenges by various anti-administration elements who are intent on stalling any major ground-breaking project initiated by this administration, including the smart meter project,” said Ramokgopa.
Manale said they had faith in the new smart metering system. “We believe this project will assist the metro to overcome problems of inaccurate billing and loss of revenue and secure our financial position of the metro and remains probably the largest deployment of smart meters in Africa. This is a game-changing project most likely to redefine local government’s financial management,” he said.
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