Malema allies' housing tenders readvertised

The Limpopo Human Settlements Department has been ordered to readvertise R900 million in housing contracts awarded to a string of companies owned by Julius Malema’s allies or benefactors in December. The Star can reveal that President Jacob Zuma’s national intervention team instructed MEC Clifford Motsepe to restart the process last month. This came after a forensic report confirmed this newspaper’s exposé in February that the contracts had been irregularly awarded to firms that did not meet the requirements or had a history of poor performance. The beneficiaries included well-known Malema associates such as businessman Selby Manthata and his wife Helen Moroeroa, Matome Hlabioa, Collins Foromo and Mohammed Dada.

Hlabioa has previously admitted to sponsoring Malema with a R1.2m Range Rover. Dada helped to build a Seshego church at Malema’s request, while Foromo is the fired ANC Youth League president’s former driver. According to an e-mail written by the head of the provincial Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Nnana Manamela, to her senior managers, Motsepe has received the instruction. “Kindly note that the MEC has received the forensic investigation report. We have been instructed to readvertise. Further instructions will be given to the MEC. You are requested to restart the process,” said her April 24 e-mail, headlined “Appointment of contractors for 2013/2014”.

She added that the national Human Settlements Department would now be part of the adjudication process. Monde Tom, Limpopo’s chief administrator, said the instruction was issued after a forensic report “picked up irregularities”. Copies of the report have been forwarded to Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale and provincial Treasury MEC David Masondo, he added. Tom said he would refer the scandal to the national government because Motsepe had “not yet responded to date”. The controversial contracts are now the subject of separate probes by the Hawks, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela and Auditor-General Terence Nombembe.

Hawks spokesman Paul Ramaloko confirmed on Tuesday that the elite crime-busting unit was investigating a corruption case against the department, adding “it is too early to be talking about progress”. The instruction for the readvertisement of the tenders flies in the face of earlier claims by Motsepe, who is close to Malema, that The Star’s report was “without foundation”. He had claimed in the media that the paper and its reporter had a “malicious” agenda against him. “There is no corruption or favouritism in the awarding of contracts. There is no impropriety. And to suggest otherwise – without any proof or substance – is an insult to the intelligence, integrity and commitment of the public servants who burn the midnight oil, ensuring that homes are provided to the poor, to the contractors who work so hard to ensure that quality homes are constructed within budget and on time,” he insisted.

But on Tuesday Motsepe, through his spokeswoman Tseng Diale, did not respond to a list of questions sent on Monday. Diale said she had not received the questions and asked The Star to resend them. She had not responded at the time of publication. A departmental source, who cannot be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said the decision to readvertise the tenders would have serious service delivery, financial and legal implications for the department. “We are going to have a crisis of underexpenditure because the contractors were supposed to have started on April 1. Currently, we are doing (this) now because our job is to spend this money building houses… We still have an underexpenditure of about R500 million from last year,” the source added.

The contracts were awarded on December 19 – a day after Zuma had secured a second term in Mangaung. The victory sparked widespread speculation that he would clear the Limpopo government of supporters of Malema and Mathale. According to official documents, the department had displayed a blatant disregard for the rules and processes when issuing the contracts.