EFF, ANC call for tight monitoring of Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant project

The forensic report into the multimillion-rand contract related to phase 1 of refurbishing Tshwane’s Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant is to be referred to the Municipal Public Accounts Committee to oversee its implementation.

This is according to a recommendation by ActionSA, which also called for the city manager, Johann Mettler, to be tasked with implementing the report’s recommendations. The party’s Gauteng chairperson, Bongani Baloyi, said it was also recommended that investigations be conducted into other role-players, not just those individuals implicated.

This transpired during a virtual council sitting this week when the report was officially tabled. The EFF and ANC told the Pretoria News that the report findings let political office bearers off the hook and only fingered officials in wrongdoing. The two parties rejected the report and called for other role-players to come under scrutiny for their alleged part in the tender.

ANC caucus leader Frans Boshielo said the report was incomplete, and the investigators also admitted that they had not interviewed all the parties involved in the tender appointment. On the other hand, Tshwane EFF leader Obakeng Ramabodu said the party rejected the report because it only spoke against certain individuals for not following the tender appointment procedure.

Baloyi said: “The report’s passing followed months of delays and obstruction tactics by the ANC caucus – in clear partnership with the EFF caucus – aimed at preventing the report from seeing the light of day.” He said ActionSA’s long-held view, after holding its own commission of inquiry into the Hammanskraal water crisis in 2020, was that the contract entered into by the city was patently illegal.

“The water crisis in Hammanskraal and Rooiwal has been an ongoing human rights violation for nearly two decades, negatively affecting the health of thousands of people in the area,” he said. Although the city previously put a price tag on the tender to the value of R253 million, ActionSA referred to it as a R295m tender.

The party questioned the appointment of companies owned by businessman Edwin Sodi, bemoaning their lack of experience in infrastructure projects such the Rooiwal upgrade. Sodi, along with suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and other officials, has been charged with fraud, corruption, theft and money laundering, among other charges, in the Free State asbestos case.

Baloyi said the party was pleased that “we are one step closer to justice for the people of this community”. “The party remains resolute to root out all elements of corruption in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, but also in the rest of South Africa. Thereby, ActionSA aims to ensure better service delivery for all,” he said.

In August, the city announced that it had terminated a contract with the service provider as a result of non-performance.