DA calls on DBSA to act on R631 mil toilet contract awarded to ANC Inc.
19 March 2015
Today I have written to the CEO of the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), Mr Patrick Dlamini, to request that he takes urgent action against the abuse of DBSA funding in the Eastern Cape toilet tender scandal.
The DBSA must play a central role in ensuring that the funds it makes available for infrastructure development are not hijacked by corrupt officials and politically-connected people for their personal gain.
It is in the public interest for DBSA to disclose what they are doing about a contract for building 66 000 toilets in the Amathole District Municipality (ADM) that has been awarded to Siyenza Group, a company allegedly linked to top ANC officials, including:
President Jacob Zuma's son-in-law, Lonwabo Sambudla
NC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe's wife, Nolwandle Mantashe, who's company has allegedly been appointed as a sub-contractor to the toilet project
Minister Lindiwe Zulu's son, Boitumelo Itholeng, who heads up the Group's "Prospectus" division.
The Daily Dispatch has since uncovered a number of irregularities surrounding the contract and Siyenza Group:
There is no record of Siyenza being registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).
Furthermore, there is no record of Siyenza being registered with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), a requirement for any construction company involved in projects in the public sector.
This notwithstanding, Siyenza has been awarded other multi-million Rand contracts, including one by the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (Misa), to construct toilets in the Northern Cape to the value of R119 million.
The ADM contract was awarded to Siyenza by invoking section 32 of the Supply Chain Management (SCM), under the auspices that DBSA had attached timelines to their funding that could not have been met if the correct process had been followed. The DBSA has however denied that there were any such clauses.
Moreover, the provision in Section 32 that allows for contracts to be awarded to companies already providing similar services to the state was incorrectly applied. Section 32 does not allow for new contracts to be awarded when the value of the new contract (R631 million for toilets in the Eastern Cape), exceeds the value of the existing or previous contract (R119 million for toilets in the Northern Cape).
Finally, over R60 million has reportedly been paid to Siyenza so far, despite little evidence of much work having been completed, while the work that has been completed is of a very poor standard. A video showing the poor workmanship by Siyenza, as well as the plight of the community who are forced to use the substandard toilets, is watchable below.
We have already submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister of Public Service and Administration, as well as the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, to establish why the correct tender processes were not followed and what measures are being taken to address the irregularities. We have also reported the matter to the Public Protector and requested a full investigation.
In the coming weeks I will be conducting an oversight visit to the Amathole District Municipality, along with the DA Eastern Cape leadership, to get a first-hand account of this travesty.
We will continue to pursue this matter as another brazen example of how those closely linked to the ANC are becoming rich while basic services such as sanitation go undelivered.
Those responsible for this blatant corruption must be brought to book. The poor cannot be allowed to suffer at the hands of ANC Inc.
Statement issued by Mmusi Maimane MP, DA Parliamentary Leader, March 19 2015
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