Special Tribunal sets aside R8.2 million tender for township entrepreneurship awards

JOHANNESBURG - The Special Tribunal has set aside an inflated R8.2 million tender award for the township entrepreneurship awards and a subsequent agreement by the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP).

The ruling is linked to a 2017 decision by the GEP bid adjudication committee to approve the appointment of Oratilwe Consultants, Trading as exclusive management services.

The tribunal said the service level agreement is invalid.

This follows a probe by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which uncovered irregularities, including that the bid submitted did not include the mandatory standard bidding document.

The document was only submitted eleven months after the closing date.

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said, "The SIU obtained evidence within the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Unit, which showed that the process was manipulated to ensure EMS was awarded the tender. Furthermore, the evidence indicates that BEC did not evaluate the bidders for price; this was done contrary to procurement regulations."

Kganyago said the SIU will ensure the ribunal’s order is implemented to recover public funds while it plans to refer the matter to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for prosecution.

"Following its investigation, the SIU implemented a comprehensive consequence management process, resulting in several disciplinary referrals to the GEP. As a result of these referrals, Tlhalefang Mahlare, the legal services manager, was dismissed, while Nonkululeko Sontsele, the key accounts manager, received a final written warning. Four other officials who were also subject to the SIU's referrals chose to resign from the entity."