Cope fumes over Reddy’s ‘secret’ deal

Opposition party Cope is angry with KwaDukuza municipality for allegedly striking a “secret” deal with billionaire Vivian Reddy to build a shopping mall as part of the redevelopment of Stanger’s defunct golf course land. Cope spokesman Dennis Bloem said if the “negotiations and transactions were done under the cloak of secrecy to favour a known funder and friend of President Zuma, Cope will refer the matter to the Public Protector”. Reddy denied the allegations of a secret deal. Reacting through his spokesman, Pregan Naicker, he said it was “simple political posturing and misinformation by Cope”. Naicker said the company Double Ring Trading planned to create a mixed-use development which included offices and a shopping mall. Double Ring Trading was the preferred bidder and had not received the final bid award. “Due processes are being followed,” he said.

Reddy has at least one other investment in Stanger. In February, the entrepreneur announced that for his 62nd birthday he was establishing a job opportunity centre in the town to train 3 000 people a year. The centre, which would cost his foundation about R6 million to set up and R1.5m a year to sustain, was to open its doors within a few months, and planned to produce skilled workers by the end of the year. It would have a staff of 30 people, most of them trainers. In a statement released on Friday, Cope said it had come to learn that the KwaDukuza Council had given the Stanger Golf Course to billionaire Vivian Reddy to develop into a shopping mall. “According to some of our members, the council did not consult citizens as is required. Most citizens were unaware of the council’s intentions.

“Although the town has a number of local newspapers, the council did not advertise in any of these papers. Furthermore, we learnt that no meeting took place. The council’s intention, it appears to us, was to do the deal in a somewhat surreptitious manner.” Cope called for the process to be reopened to give all citizens a fair chance to bid for the property. Naicker rubbished the party’s allegations, saying the redevelopment of the KwaDukuza Golf Course had always been in the public realm. “In fact it was and is part of the KwaDukuza central business district regeneration strategy and the KwaDukuza integrated development plan since July 2013.” Naicker said the redevelopment of the golf course bid had been advertised on the municipality website on December 3, 2013. “It was further advertised in the local and national newspapers. A compulsory clarification meeting was held on December 11, 2013 at 10am and attended by numerous bidders.

“Tenders were to be submitted by noon on March 5 last year and were opened in public on that day.” Council spokesman Sifiso Zulu said: “In 2013 the council considered its challenges with regard to office space and issues affecting local economic development. “It resolved that in the long term the municipal buildings would have to be relocated to the current KwaDukuza Golf Course with an intention to redevelop it for mixed use, which will incorporate both office space and a shopping mall. “A request for proposal was advertised for service providers to express their interest and submit proposals in December 2013. After a briefing session that month, prospective bidders were given at least six months to prepare and submit their technical proposals,” Zulu said. “This was advertised as tender MN 211/2013. These are available on the municipal website and are available for public view.

“The proposal was a two-stage system, which entailed first the technical proposal and secondly the financial proposal. “Service providers whose proposals are technically acceptable are taken to the second stage of evaluation, which is their financial proposal. “Of the proposals received, Double Ring Trading was the only bidder to go through to the second stage. To this extent he is the preferred, not appointed, bidder. “(Yesterday) was the last day to pick up tender documents. The closing date for this tender is May 18. “It is clear that KwaDukuza Municipal Council has followed the tender process as prescribed in the Municipal Finance Management Act and Councils Supply Chain Management Process. We believe the process has been and remains transparent,” said Zulu.