Pretoria - The Special Investigating Unit has been asked to include the Hammanskraal Water Report in its investigation of irregularities in the awarding of the R295 million Rooiwaal Water Treatment Plant tender.
ActionSA provincial chairperson Bongani Baloyi handed in the report emanating from the Commission of Inquiry into the Hammanskraal Water Crisis, which investigated the water woes that gripped the township when he made this request.
Speaking from the SIU offices, Baloyi said South Africans should recall it was ActionSA which took the unprecedented step of holding a commission of inquiry into this matter after residents of affected areas had been denied the opportunity to make submissions into various investigations.
He said the investigating body should consider the report because Section 4(1)(b) of the Special Investigating Unit and Special Tribunals Act requires the unit to “collect evidence regarding acts or omissions which are relevant to its investigation and, if applicable, to institute proceedings in a special tribunal against the parties concerned”.
“The evidence heard by the commission suggested that the process of awarding the tender was manifestly deficient in that the recipient was an amateur contractor and quoted a price much higher than other better qualified and more experienced bidders.
It is therefore bizarre why this contractor was ultimately chosen and on what basis. ActionSA contends this tender was corrupt because it amounted to a R295 million award to a joint venture with both companies owned by Edwin Sodi for the upgrade of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant.
“The joint venture did not have the required funds for site establishment. The City of Tshwane paid R1 million upfront to float the costs of site establishment.
“The joint venture, in contravention of the supply chain policies of the City of Tshwane, had to cede R71 million upfront because it lacked the resources for the initial capital outlay. When the adjudication committee cancelled the tender award, the City of Tshwane inexplicably did not defend its decision in the legal proceedings brought by the joint venture.”
Pretoria News