Tshwane's R12 billion GladAfrica deal terminated 'by mutual agreement’

GladAfrica yesterday confirmed that the termination of its R12 billion tender with the City of Tshwane was by mutual agreement.

“We maintain our initial stance on the matter - that GladAfrica Project Managers was appointed after a rigorous selection process that looked at among other things, our capacity to deliver on the project,” it said. The three-year deal was to assist the City with the roll-out of infrastructure projects. The company said it was satisfied that all the requirements as stipulated in the municipality’s Supply Chain regulations and the Municipal Finance Management Act were met.

At the same time, Executive Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa said city manager Dr Moeketsi Mosola was not yet off the hook for awarding the irregular GladAfrica contract. Mokgalapa announced plans to establish a Financial Misconduct Board “to consider all associated material that led to the conclusion of the GladAfrica contract”. He said the board would be tasked with making recommendations regarding steps to follow in dealing with officials implicated in the tender irregularities.

“This includes, but is not limited to, the city manager’s involvement in all matters related to GladAfrica,” he said. He said the board would consist of external and independent members, who must have a financial background. The mayor disclosed that almost R500000had been paid to GladAfrica since it entered into a contract with the City in November 2017. Mokgalapa further said it was anticipated that at the end of the 2018/19 financial year, an additional R250m would have been incurred.

The ANC claimed the City paid GladAfrica R250m as a golden shake. The official opposition alleged that Mokgalapa was in cahoots with the EFF to protect Mosola over the GladAfrica fiasco. ANC regional chairperson and opposition leader Dr Kgosi Maepa said: “It is illogical that an executive mayor of a capital city in South Africa will go out and tell the public that he is terminating an illegal and irregular contract by paying an extra R250m as a settlement on a ‘mutual agreement’, a corrupt golden handshake,” he said.

He accused Mokgalapa of having the intention to exonerate Mosola. “We know that the DA and EFF are having a ‘Nicodemus agreement’ to keep Mosola at all costs,” he said. Mokgalapa is expected to submit a report seeking the approval of council to terminate the contract on Thursday during an ordinary sitting. The ANC, on the other hand, said it wanted him to table a report on Mosola’s suspension over his wrongdoing in connection with the GladAfrica tender, as mentioned in the auditor-general’s report.

The party further asked the AG to start the process of recovering money paid to GladAfrica “irregularly and illegally”. Maepa said it was only the courts that could review the findings. The party wanted President Cyril Ramaphosa to step in by signing a Special Investigating Unit declaration for the City. He also urged Ramaphosa to set up a commission of inquiry to establish the facts around the irregular GladAfrica contract. Maepa said: “The ANC calls upon the Hawks to trace the R500 000 already paid to GladAfrica since 2018 and the beneficiaries of this irregular and illegal contract.”

EFF regional leader Moaferika Mabogwana said: “We would not have a problem with the termination of the contract as long as everything is done in the interest of the city and the monies of the city are not used in contracts that don’t assist the people of the city.”