CAPE TOWN - The procurement process the Matzikama Municipality followed in awarding a service provider a R650 000 contract to supply face-masks and gloves may have been irregular and unlawful, according to the Special Investigative Unit (SIU).
The unit has now referred the matter to the Office of the State Attorney with the view of declaring it invalid.
The service provider was appointed to provide humanitarian relief initiatives to the poor and vulnerable in the local municipal area of Matzikama at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Its appointment was done without following any competitive procurement process, read the SIU report released this week.
“This matter is currently in the High Court of the Cape Town Provincial Division. The matter is defended and the SIU are currently awaiting a court date for the hearing of the matter,” said the SIU.
It has additionally made criminal referrals to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for all those involved.
The SIU had received allegations of procurement irregularities from a whistle-blower concerning sanitisers, dispensers and liquid soap amounting to R21 140 from two contracts from a service provider in the Cederberg Municipality.
It is alleged that a senior manager at the municipality is the husband of the service provider. The service provider is also a former municipality employee.
The SIU found the required declaration of interest form was not part of the procurement documentation submitted and despite charging the municipality for VAT, the service provider was not a registered vendor in terms of the VAT Act.
The attorney representing Matzikama and Cederberg municipalities, André Johnston, said the report had not been received by the local municipalities.
“The SIU has not honoured the terms of the letters of engagement. I am not aware of the content of their so-called high level progress reports as these were never provided to the Cederberg or Matzikama local municipality. In the circumstances I presume having engaged the SIU that those reports are not worth what they purport to be,” said Johnston.
Meanwhile, SIU investigators interviewed whistle-blowers following complaints regarding the distribution process of food parcels by four service providers at the Kannaland Municipality.
In terms of the evidence obtained, irregularities did not occur in respect of the procurement processes itself. However, the unit found an advance payment amounting to R134 676 made to one of the service providers which entity at that stage did not have the capacity to provide products to that amount was irregular.
“The advance payment was made without an agreement in place to regulate the spend or a guarantee should the service provider fail to deliver as promised,” the SIU said.
Two officials were identified who facilitated the advance payment and in the process exposed the municipality to a financial risk
A recommendation to pursue disciplinary action against the officials including the supporting evidence was submitted to the municipality.
However, the municipality had yet to commence with the disciplinary hearings, read the report.
Newly-elected mayor in the Kannaland Municipality, Nicky Valentyn, said he was not a councillor when the allegations came to light and he has not seen the report by the SIU.
The DA provincial spokesperson on local government, Derrick America, said the SIU report had once again highlighted the continual maladministration under ANC governance, particularly the municipalities of Kannaland, Cederberg and Matzikama.
“Whilst the Cederberg and Matzikama municipalities are now under DA coalitions, these municipalities will now need to address the legacy of ANC-sponsored corruption,” America said.
Cape Times