4 officials fired for irregular tenders

POLOKWANE – Four officials from the department of cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs (Coghsta) were discharged from the public service last week following the finalisation of disciplinary hearings by the department.

The four – two senior managers and two general managers – were found guilty of non-adherence to specific bid evaluation criteria in relation to bids awarded in December 2012 for human settlements tenders for the construction of low-cost housing in the 2013/14 financial year.

The dismissed officials, Kobela Mamabolo, Paul Mohlala, Rose Dikotla and Cedric Nematzididi, were part of the bid evaluation committee of the department.

Nine senior managers from the department, including the four dismissed officials, were charged in October last year following forensic investigations into the awarding of the tenders. Charges against one official were withdrawn. The disciplinary hearings against the remaining four officials linked to the adjudication process are yet to be finalised. According to Coghsta MEC, Makoma Makhurupetje, the finalisation of the hearings would be processed very soon.

Due to the suspected irregularities, the awarding of tenders in the department was put on hold, some contracts were terminated, and the grant for low-cost housing of over R1 billion was withdrawn.

This meant that the province could not build any of the planned 13 000 low-cost housing units during the 2013/14 financial year. When a part of the grant was returned to the department late last year, it was already too late in the financial year to award tenders and build houses.

Makhurupetje said premier Stanley Mathabatha’s instructions were that action should be taken against transgressors, and the dismissal of the officials was one of these actions.

It was still possible that criminal charges could be instituted against the officials implicated in the tender irregularities, she said.