ONE of Buffalo City Metro’s most sought after contracts is said to be at the centre of a massive rift between municipal bosses.
City and political sources, who are close to the developments at both the Trust Centre and the City Hall, said the tender known as Contract 26 was being used by politicians and officials to dish out patronage. It is also allegedly one of the reasons behind the fallout between mayor Zukiswa Ncitha and city manager Andile Fani.
While municipal authorities on Thursday refused to reveal how much Contract 26 is worth, the Saturday Dispatch has seen payment schedules valued at more than R500-million.
“We cannot discuss finances of the companies,” said BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi. “Yes, these are public funds but in our policy we are not allowed to do that, this is their money now for the work they’ve done.”
Contract 26 is made up of different contracts for building and maintaining roads, stormwater upgrades and fixing potholes around BCM. These contracts used to be won by mainly white-owned construction companies in the past, however a decision was taken a few years ago to award them to different companies, including black-owned ones.
Lucrative contract splits BCM bosses
City and political sources, who are close to the developments at both the Trust Centre and the City Hall, said the tender known as Contract 26 was being used by politicians and officials to dish out patronage. It is also allegedly one of the reasons behind the fallout between mayor Zukiswa Ncitha and city manager Andile Fani.
While municipal authorities on Thursday refused to reveal how much Contract 26 is worth, the Saturday Dispatch has seen payment schedules valued at more than R500-million.
“We cannot discuss finances of the companies,” said BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi. “Yes, these are public funds but in our policy we are not allowed to do that, this is their money now for the work they’ve done.”
Contract 26 is made up of different contracts for building and maintaining roads, stormwater upgrades and fixing potholes around BCM. These contracts used to be won by mainly white-owned construction companies in the past, however a decision was taken a few years ago to award them to different companies, including black-owned ones.
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