Cape Town - The City of Cape Town could again find itself in the High Court facing its second legal challenge from a company that has already accused it of tender irregularities.
J K Structures took the city to court after its bid for a R113.5 million tender for the rehabilitation of sewers was rejected on the basis that it was non-responsive.
The company was one of a pool of bidders hoping to be allocated work projects for the two-year term of the contract. But the city claimed that JK Structures, and another applicant in the court case, Carp Civils, had failed to provide a fully-priced schedule of rates.
Judge Judith Cloete found that the city’s initial tender document contained errors and this caused irregularities in JK Structures’ pricing.
She ordered the city to set aside its rejection of the two companies’ bids and to refer the tender back for re-adjudication.
The city awarded the tender to JK Structures, but the company’s John Klopper said on Wednesday that the contract had yet to be finalised. Furthermore, the city had indicated that the terms of the original bid had changed to accommodate only two tenders. An amount of R25m had already been allocated to Tuboseal, another company involved in the bundle of work projects. “There is no guarantee that there is budget available for the work.”
The city was given 14 days to reconsider JK Structures’ bid and a further seven days to notify the company of the outcome.
But Klopper said it took the city longer than 21 days to evaluate its bid, as per the court ruling, and that the budget had subsequently been slashed.
He said the city had also indicated that the budget for next year has been reduced to R45m, of which R30m is earmarked for other work. JK Structures would therefore have to share the remaining R15m with another company doing work for the department.
Sonnenberg said: “The total budget in respect of sewer rehabilitation at the time of the invitation to tender was R113.5m for work to be carried out throughout the city. Tender number 221Q/13/14 was included in this amount and is only one of various other tenders which shares this budget of R113.5m. There is consequently no specific amount allocated for the sole purpose of pipe cracking rehabilitation to which JK Structures has been elected onto the panel.”
Klopper said his firm, which has more than 29 years’ experience in trenchless rehabilitation to upgrade sewer pipes and other water and sanitation infrastructure, had battled with the city’s procurement processes since 2004.
He said the firm had locked horns with specific officials over the years, and despite complaining about tender irregularities and collusion between officials and certain companies to the city manager and the city’s forensic department, there had been no investigation to date.
“We have tendered on all the rehabilitation contracts, but we have had difficulty securing the work.” Klopper said JK Structures was only successful on appeal.
Klopper said he had raised concerns about the involvement of a senior official in drawing up tender specifications, and then being involved in the bid adjudication. But his concerns were ignored.
But Ian Neilson, mayoral committee member for finance, said the city had finalised one investigation and was in the process of probing a second tender. “Once the reports are finalised, they will be submitted to the city manager who will decide on what further action may be required.”
Cape Argus