Durban - Five companies - some with married directors, common staff and contact details - which were raking in R750 million in eThekwini Municipality contracts are facing possible criminal charges because their alleged collusive activities were uncovered in an explosive KPMG investigation.
The six-month investigation was completed in April last year, and makes several damning findings against the companies.
The KPMG report was commissioned by the eThekwini Municipality to investigate allegations of potential collusion with regard to competing tenders in the municipality.
The scope covered the adjudication and award of projects by the city between October 2008 and April 2015.
The five companies alleged to have been involved in “collusive tendering” are Tauris Garden Trading 500, Taset 13, Mogeena Building Construction, AKRT Investments and Centwise 157.
The following contracts were awarded to them:
* Mogeena Building Construction was awarded one project to the value of R952 789.
* Tauris Garden Trading 500 was awarded four contracts to the value of R137.3 million.
* Taset 13/Mogeena Building Construction as a joint venture was awarded three contracts to the value of R129.46 million.
* AKRT Investments was awarded five contracts to the value of R341.29 million and one as a joint venture with Impumelelo to the value of R89 million.
* Centwise 157 as a joint venture with AKRT Investments and Taset 13 got one contract to the value of R46.86 million.
The specific projects awarded were:
July 2010 - AKRT Investments as a joint venture with Impumelelo were awarded a R62 million contract for the supply of materials and wage disbursements at Tambo Plaza Housing in Bhambhayi. The contract was extended in February 2014 to AKRT Investments only, not the joint venture.
July 2011 - Taset 13/Mogeena Building Construction as a joint venture were awarded a R26.1 million contract to supply materials and wage disbursement in Ward 29, Cato Manor, for 500 structures.
July 2011 - AKRT Investments was awarded a contract to provide materials and wage disbursements for fire damage at Sea Cow Lake and Clare Estate, at a cost of R4.4 million.
September 2011 - AKRT Investments was awarded a contract to supply materials and wage disbursements for the repair of 100 storm-damaged homes in the “southern region” at a value of R19 million. The contract was extended in January 2014, to R 21.7 million.
July 2011 - AKRT Investments tendered for and won (date of award is not known) a contract to supply materials and for wage disbursements for the construction of 1 000 houses at Unnini Rural housing project at Umkomaas and Illovo at a cost of R46.87 million. The contract was extended in January 2014, at a cost of R53.4 million.
May 2012 - AKRT Investments was awarded a contract to supply materials and do wage disbursements for the construction of 100 temporary houses and 2 150 top structures for formal houses in Inanda and Amaoti, at a cost of R178.1 million.
September 2012 - AKRT Investments was awarded a contract to supply materials and do wage disbursements for an Inanda housing project, valued at R17.6 million.
January 2014 - Taset 13/Mogeena Building Construction as a joint venture had the same contract extended with an increase in the contract authority, to the value of R29.8 million.
July 2014 - Tauris Garden Trading 500 won a contract to construct transit camps with associated services because of fire disasters at Sim Place for R3.8 million.
July 2014 - Tauris Garden Trading 500 won a contract to erect 700 emergency structures in Kennedy Road, Clare Estate, at a value of R31.4 million.
July 2014 - Mogeena Building Construction won a contract to supply materials for 121 structures because of a fire disaster at Burnwood informal settlement, at a value of R952 780.
September 2014 - Taset 13/Mogeena Building Construction as a jointventure got a contract worth R71.9m, split with Brackley Investments, to supply materials and wage disbursements at Sobonakhona Rural Housing Development for 1 500 top structures.
October 2014 - Taset 13/Mogeena Building Construction as a Joint Venture got a contract for the supply of materials for a fire disaster in Shannon Drive informal settlement in Reservoir Hills, at a value of R1.55 million.
November 2014 - A joint venture of Centwise 157, Taset 13 and AKRT Investments was awarded a contract to rectify top structures at Brooksfarm housing project, at a cost of R46.8 million.
In response to questions about the findings of the report, AKRT Investments’ active director Anisha Pregalathen Ticka said she had not received any feedback about the investigation and was unaware of any recommendations made.
She denied the company had been involved in any collusive tendering and said companies were not asked to declare previous links to other companies on tender applications.
She said the company had not been aware of the other companies that tendered for the same work.
Centwise 157 active director Mohamed Mosam said he was interviewed by KPMG once but was not aware of any findings.
He denied that the company had been involved in collusive tendering and said there was no conflict of interest that it had needed to declare in tender applications.
He said despite a letter of good standing from the Department of Labour stating that the company was “sports retail, the company is a construction company”.
He said the company had previously been a sports shop and the Labour Department had been asked to alter the letter, but this had not been done yet. He said the company attached an affidavit to tender documents to explain the letter.
Taset 13’s active director, Zunaid Tayob, said he was not aware of the report and it would be premature to respond or comment.
An employee of Taset 13, Julie Roux, said she was not aware of the investigation, but the company had not engaged in any irregular activities with any companies.
Tauris Garden Trading 500’s employee Samantha Naidoo said because of the ongoing investigation about the matter, they were unable to respond.
Mogeena Building Construction’s active director, Tayeba Ravat, said she was interviewed by KPMG but was not aware of the findings of the investigation.
She said the company had not engaged in any collusive activities with any companies.
A director of Mogeena had once been a director of AKRT, but this had ended in 2010. She said tender documents ask to specify current interest in other companies, not past or expired interests.
Mogeena Building Construction had three directors that had links to other companies.
Its active director Tayeba Suliman Ravat was a director of AKRT Investments for five years which ended in 2010.
Her husband, Khaleel Ismail Ravat, who was a director of Mogeena between 2005 and 2008, was also a director of AKRT Investments for five years, which ended in 2010.
Anisha Pragalathen Ticka, who is an active director of AKRT Investments, was a director of Mogeena between 2008 and March 2011.
Taset 13 Pty Ltd
Its two active directors Suliman Omar Tayob and Zunaid Omar Tayob had also been directors of AKRT Investments for one month in 2010.
Tauris Garden Trading 500
Its active director Fatima Tayob, who is married to Suliman Omar Tayob, had also been a director of AKRT Investments between 2010 and 2012.
Other previous directors included couple Anisha Pragalathen Ticka and Rajendhra Ticka between 2007 and 2008.
Yasmin Tayob, an AKRT Investments director, was also a director of the company from 2010 to 2012.
AKRT Investments
Its active director Yasmin Tayob was a director of Tauris Garden Trading 500 from 2010 to 2012.
Her husband, Zunaid Omar Tayob, was a director of AKRT Investments for one month in 2010.
Its active director, Anisha Pragalathen Ticka, had been a director of Mogeena Building Construction, until 2011, and Tauris Garden Trading 500 between 2007 and 2008. Other previous directors of the company include Suliman Tayob, who was a director of AKRT Investments for one month in 2010, and his wife, Fatima Tayob, was a director of AKRT Investments between 2010 and 2012.
Tayeba Suliman Ravat and her husband. Khaleel Ismail Ravat. were directors from 2005 to 2010.
Centwise 157
Mohamed Mosam has been its director since January 2010.
She said tender documents ask to specify current interest in other companies, not past interests
The company had been a sports shop and the Labour Department had been asked to alter the letter
'Same phone and fax numbers'
What the report found:
Contact information
AKRT Investments and Tauris Garden Trading 500 had five common telephone numbers and one common fax number on their registration documents and some tender applications submitted to the municipality and the Construction Industry Development Board.
Five other phone numbers and two fax numbers were used by Tauris and Taset 13. Centwise and Tauris had two common fax numbers and two common phone numbers. Mogeena Construction used a phone number that was also used by Taset 13 and Tauris, and a fax number used by Taset 13, Tauris and Centwise.
The Taset 13/Mogeena joint venture used telephone numbers used by Tauris and AKRT. One e-mail address was also used by AKRT, Taset 13, and by the Centwise 157/Tauris and AKRT joint venture.
AKRT and Tauris had the same phone number on application documents for two tenders. Tauris and Mogeena also appeared to “share” a telephone number for application documents for the same tender.
AKRT and Tauris had the same postal and physical addresses in Durban. In documents submitted to the Construction Industry Development Board, Taset 13, Tauris and Centwise had the same postal address in Limpopo. Taset 13 and Tauris had the same physical address.
Tauris subcontracted two contracts to AKRT in 2009 and 2013. These contracts led to AKRT getting a 7GB and 2CE grading respectively - which affected the number of government contracts the company could be awarded. Tauris also subcontracted work to Mogeena in 2012, which led to the latter getting a board grading of 3GB.
Financial links
Four Arrows Investments 68 (Pty) Ltd, which lists Taset 13’s directors Suliman and Zunaid Tayob as its directors, sponsored Tauris to the value of R6.5 million in November 2013.
A trust - Omtay Property Holdings Trust - which had Suliman, Zunaid and Omar Moosa Tayob as trustees, was found to have lent money to AKRT, Tauris and Taset 13, and sponsored Taset 13 to the value of R8 million in May 2013.
In turn, the trust was lent money by AKRT, Tauris and Taset 13. An accountant at EH Hassim Builders World told KPMG investigators that Taset 13 and Tauris were part of the EH Hassim Group.
Common individuals
The forensic investigators also found that Tauris and AKRT had a liaison person with the name of “Amanda Nyembezi”. Nyembezi, according to electronic data interchange, was the “common person recorded as acting for the four service providers”.
Tender documents reveal other individuals who acted for more than one company. An “I du Toit”, according to the report, signed Tauris’s “witness to form of offer” in the Maplazini housing project and AKRT's “compulsory site inspection/briefing attended” in one of its projects.
One “J Roopnarian” conducted “compulsory site inspection/briefing attended” in projects involving Centwise and Tauris.
An “O Shangase” was “witness to form of offer” and attended “compulsory site inspection/briefing attended” at an Ntuzuma housing project in which Taset and Mogeena tendered as a joint venture.
She was signed as “witness to form of offer” for Centwise in the same project. The project has not been awarded. Shangase signed eight such documents linked to all five companies.
An “X Sontshatsha” did similar work for all four companies.
The Mercury