Pretoria - The City did not award Huawei Technologies South Africa a tender worth R1billion to make Tshwane a “smart city”.
Executive mayor Stevens Mokgalapa said yesterday the metro had not advertised any tender worth that much and would take the Sunday Times newspaper to the Press Ombudsman and request corrections regarding his recent Huawei-sponsored trip to China.
“There is no such tender in the City and there is no R1bn tender for a smart city. What we have in the City is a tender for R26 million for the next three years (for a smart city), which was advertised on July 29 with a closing date of August 28, now extended to September 13.”
This awarding of a tender was alleged to have taken place when municipal workers were on strike demanding 18% salary increases.
However, Mokgalapa said it was normal for a mayor to receive invitations from private companies, governments and public companies from all over the world.
“It is nothing unusual for a mayor to undertake fact finding or a benchmarking exercise.
“The City has for years now been trying to go for the smart and safe city concept.
“Huawei extended that invitation and I have always been postponing it because a mayor’s diary is full, so the only time I had was that week.”
He insisted that his trip was about learning how Tshwane could be a smart city from cities that already did it in preparation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
No promises were made to Huawei and the R26m tender was still open to the public, with no requirement for the appointed service provider to partner with Huawei in any way or form, according to the mayor.
He said the City had analogue cameras, and the trip helped understand the impact of integrated ICT services with digital cameras that recognised faces and read car registrations and integrated all regions.
“We are looking at upgrading our system and it will be amiss if we then say the City cannot go and make a public tender like this one because the mayor went there. This will then affect our capacity to delivery services we have to deliver.
“The only thing and only problem is when you go there and create a perception that you are going to use that particular service provider, and you don’t go on public open tender.
“The fact that this one is on open public tender means that anyone who has capacity should go to that space but as a mayor I am not involved in that space. Let me make that clear I don’t do the specifications, I don’t do the adjudication, and I don’t know what is going on in that tender.”
However, the ANC in Tshwane said it was not surprised to read once again that the DA was alleged to be immersed and deeply involved in corruption and malfeasance in the City.
“In August 2018 the ANC exposed terrible malfeasance and maladministration associated with GladAfrica - a matter now confirmed by the Auditor-General and cancelled by the City of Tshwane after over R500m was paid irregularly.
“The executive mayor said there was nothing in the story he has no connection with the bid advertisement and the headlines were misleading the public. However, the ANC has in its possession a signed and stamped council report of August 2018 used for a visit by officials to Huawei headquarters in China during September 2018 to see smart city sites.
“The September 2018 tour was authorised and signed by both the former mayor, Solly Msimanga, and his embattled appointee, outgoing city manager Dr Moeketsi Mosola. It was also an invitation and sponsored by Huawei.
“In sum, the smart cities Huawei arrangement is well known in the City of Tshwane and it is not true that the mayor claims that he doesn’t know about the tender, when it was advertised, and he just visited China Huawei headquarters unaware of the tender processes under way to appoint Huawei immediately thereafter,” said the party.
The DA’s James Selfe said the party would require Mokgalapa to explain himself where these allegations were concerned.