Durban: The director of Supply Chain Management in the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal has been dismissed amid accusations of gross misconduct related to the award of contracts, worth R1.1 billion, to one consultancy company
The Office of MEC for Public Works and Infrastructure, Martin Meyer, said he had welcomed the department’s swift and decisive action.
In a statement, the MEC’s office said that one of the key functions of the senior official, based in the Pietermaritzburg office, was to identify and mitigate risk while avoiding irregular expenditure during procurement processes.
However, in early September 2024, several discrepancies were flagged against the official regarding the appointment of a consulting company.
The key issues identified included:
– Missing documents in the procurement file
– Significant discrepancies between services requested and those procured
– Non-conducting of required checks and balances
Following these findings, the director, who had been in the position since August 2022, was placed on suspension while investigations were initiated.
The statement indicated that the investigations revealed a single firm was awarded a total of 29 contracts, valued at just over R1.1bn.
“This resulted in the firm holding an unfair and unchecked monopoly over contracts issued by KZN Public Works and Infrastructure.”
Further findings against the dismissed official related to the award of contracts included:
– The official failed to ensure thorough oversight and compliance verification.
– The official did not identify conflicts of interest among three companies sharing common directorship.
– The official failed to recognise that two bidding companies operated from the same premises.
– The official did not disclose conflicts of directorship in the bidding companies.
Additionally, the official was also found guilty of a second charge for failing to implement the department’s cellphone policy and maintain a database of issued mobile devices. This resulted in 57 active cellphone contracts still being paid for by the department. These contracts had been for employees who had since left.
Moreover, the official was found guilty of issuing four official work phones for his own use, leading to wasteful expenditure of R192 000 per month incurred by KZN Public Works and Infrastructure.
The statement said MEC Meyer expressed satisfaction with the process, noting that it took only two months to reach a conclusion, providing much-needed finality.
He also highlighted the fairness of the process, which included the right to representation for the official, who chose not to present mitigating circumstances.