Dirt flies in R2bn tender war

George Matlala

THE battle for the City of Johannesburg’s R2 billion refuse collection tender has taken an ugly turn, with bidders for the lucrative contract threatening to take each other to court a few weeks before the winner is announced.

One of the bidders, FleetAfrica, has written to its former employee, Ravin Sanjith, now consulting for its main competitor Aqua Transport and Plant Hire, claiming that the executive had given inside information about the tender and “trade secrets” of his former employers.

FleetAfrica is the city’s official refuse collector and has submitted another bid to retain the contract.

The Sunday Independent understands that the winner of the tender will be appointed this month and begin work in July.

The fight among the competitors threatens to polarise the city’s bidding processes, which could delay the appointment of a new service provider.

FleetAfrica’s contract has been extended to June this year. The wrangle over the contract also threatens service delivery should the parties engage in a protracted legal battle.

FleetAfrica is also entangled in a battle with the city’s refuse collection company, Pikitup, which has accused it of non-performance – an argument that has seen Pikitup irregularly appointing another service provider, Sula Smart Services, in a secret contract estimated at R100 million.

In a letter addressed to Sanjith, the former commercial executive at FleetAfrica, the company’s lawyers threatened that they would interdict Aqua from providing refuse collection services should they (Aqua) win the tender.

FleetAfrica lawyers, Wermans Attorneys, claim that Sanjith is barred from doing work for the company’s competitors by a March 2007 agreement.

Sanjith resigned in April last year and Joburg’s refuse tender was advertised in November. According to the lawyers, he is not supposed to do work for FleetAfrica’s competitors and its clients for a period of two years commencing from the date of his resignation.

In terms of a clause in the resignation agreement between the two parties – which the Sunday Independent has seen – Sanjith agreed not to divulge information about the company to a third party.

“We are in addition instructed that you utilised client’s information and trade secrets in order to assist the competitive entity (Aqua) to submit a proposal in response to the tender,” the letter says.

“Should the competitive entity be successful pursuant to the submission of its proposal in response to the tender, we hold instructions to apply to court for an interdict to preclude the competitive entity, which must have been aware of your unlawful conduct… from performing any services arising from the award of the tender,” the letter notes.

Sanjith, who is now the chief executive of consulting company Aptitude, said FleetAfrica had fabricated its argument to frustrate the adjudication of the tender.

He, too, invoked a clause in the same agreement which says that his payout “was a full and final settlement of all disputes, claims, rights of action… which exist or might arise between the employee and the company as a result of the employee’s past employment with FleetAfrica…,” the document says.

“I am concerned that the bidder referred to is being unfairly dragged into this non-issue to frustrate and compromise the tender adjudication and award process, putting not only the bidder but the wider City of Johannesburg and its taxpayers at risk,” he said when contacted.

“I have officially responded to FleetAfrica’s allegations. I am unable to make this correspondence available at this time with due respect to the legal process.”

The city’s spokesman Gabu Tugwana said bidders who tried to influence the decision on the tender through “legal pressure” were not doing themselves a favour.

“The issue of a new tender is a matter for the adjudication committee and no decision has been reached at this juncture.

“It is our considered view that any person who attempts to influence the tender process by public or legal pressure is in fact not doing themselves or parties being adjudicated a favour,” he said.

He said FleetAfrica’s contract was legally and procedurally extended “taking the city’s procurement processes timelines and business imperatives into account”.