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More legal woes for Pikitup

Otto Waste Systems, a company that bid for a tender worth R63 million to supply wheelie bins to Pikitup, has taken legal action against the utility and the preferred bidder. Otto Waste claims Phambili Services does not have the capacity to manufacture the bins. Otto Waste is the largest bin-manufacturing company in South Africa. Phambili Services, a company that was a sponsor of Pikitup’s Women’s Day event, won the tender in May. Otto Waste managing director Rob Lerena would not go into the merits of the legal action, but said the company had a very strong case against Pikitup. “It (Phambili Services) has no infrastructure or structures with which to do so (manufacture bins).

“Instead, it buys the containers from its own suppliers and then simple on-sells those containers,” court papers read. “To the best of my knowledge, the third respondent (Phambili Services) is not able to repair and maintain bins, and it is not clear how or on what basis their ability to do so could have been assessed and found to be acceptable.” Otto Waste added that “there can be no justification for the third respondent’s tender being preferred” over its bid. But Phambili Services denied in its answering affidavit that it did not comply with other bid requirements. It said it was never a requirement of the tender that the successful bidder be a bin manufacturer. It merely had to supply them.

Pikitup boss Amanda Nair said in the answering affidavit that the tender was awarded to Phambili Services because it scored the highest points and was therefore earmarked as the preferred bidder. It has since emerged that Phambili Services paid R17 000 to buy gift vouchers as its contribution to the Women’s Day event organised by Pikitup and other City of Joburg departments. But executive director Vincent Charnley denied they were buying any favours - they were simply making a contribution to a good cause. He added that Otto Waste Systems’ allegations regarding the tender were “totally unfounded”.

“They (Otto Waste) think they own the City of Joburg. In the court papers they accuse us of colluding with a supplier. That’s nonsense. “They also (claim that the) Pikitup tender procedures were flawed. There is nothing that was done incorrectly… It is just sour grapes,” said Charnley.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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More legal woes for Pikitup

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