Ditsobotla Municipality. (Photo: X)
The DA in the Ditsobotla local municipality (Lichtenburg) in North-West welcomed the decision of the special tribunal to set aside an illegal contract of R25.8 million for waste water treatment.
The contract was irregularly awarded to Rensh Close Corporation.
The tribunal ordered that the company must repay all money received under the contract. A second tender, Themak Consulting Civil Engineering Consultancy, must in turn repay R3.88 million in consultancy fees.
The special investigation unit (SUE) welcomed the verdict earlier and said that a “single phone call from the municipality’s technical director… bypassed an entire legitimate tender process”.
Rensch Close Corporation belongs to Rashida Carter and the tribunal ordered that all money, including all profits, must be returned.
Themak Consulting Civil Engineering Consultancy belongs to Edwin Adnries Hapi Makola. The company was appointed to carry out an assessment of the municipality’s waste water infrastructure and finally delivered a technical report and a bill of R3.8 million for the consultancy service.
The tribunal ordered that Themak and Makola repay this money, and any interest thereon.
The contract included the renovation and repair of the Biesiesvlei/Itekeng wastewater treatment plant, two pumping stations and the Lichtenburg wastewater treatment plant. The SOE conducted the investigation following a referral by the auditor general based on an investigation that exposed serious procurement irregularities during the covid-19 time at the municipality.
Willie Pretorius, DA councilor in Ditsobotla, describes the verdict as an important victory for accountability and a rejection of the corruption and collusion which he says paralyzes service delivery in the municipality.
The DA says municipal officials abandoned a legal tender process, for which 17 tenders were entered, and then illegally appointed Rensh Close Corporation.
According to the party, these actions robbed residents of improvements to critical wastewater infrastructure.
“Corruption and maladministration in Ditsobotla deprived residents of basic services while a small group of privileged individuals were enriched,” says Pretorius.
The DA has meanwhile requested the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to act urgently on the criminal references from the SOE so that the parties involved can be held responsible.
Also read: Straight-up plan for Ditsobotla welcomed
(Photo: Provided)
The latest development comes barely two weeks after Enoch Godongwana, the minister of finance, handed over a revised financial recovery plan to the struggling municipality.
The Ditsobotla municipality was placed under national administration after several previous intervention attempts failed and the municipality has been struggling for years with serious financial, administrative and service delivery problems.
Pretorius says the tribunal’s verdict should be the beginning of a new era of transparency, accountability and improved service delivery.
“The people of Ditsobotla deserve better,” he said.