The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the province has called for an investigation into allegations of tampering with Buffalo City Metro’s tender box.
The SACP directed its call to the auditor-general, MEC of cooperative governance and traditional affairs Fikile Xasa, and the police.
This follows a Saturday Dispatch report last week that BCM’s municipal manager Andile Fani allegedly instructed three senior metro officials to remove the box which held tender documents for a multimillion-rand road maintenance project.
But BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi denied there was any wrongdoing when Fani instructed the officials to do an “in loco inspection” as the keys to the box were found to be defective “and an additional lock was installed”.
In fact, Ngesi said: “No tender box has been tampered with or removed. The box is physically built into a wall of the offices and removing it would result in breaking the wall.”
SACP’s provincial spokesman Siyabonga Mdodi said the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC) had “noted with great concern the reports carried in the edition about the alleged interference by the BCM MM Andile Fani”.
The call came as a shock to the party as Fani is an SACP member and serves as the party’s deputy secretary of the Skenjana Roji region.
But Mdodi said the party’s provincial bosses had stated clearly that irrespective of who was implicated in the matter, they were calling “for all relevant authorities (such as) the department of local government and traditional affairs, the auditor-general and all other relevant law enforcement authorities to get closer to the situation and act decisively on any wrongdoing irrespective of who is found to have erred”.
Mdodi said: “We don’t care who is implicated but the police and relevant government departments must investigate what really happened here and bring to book anyone found to have flouted municipal processes.”
The meeting also discussed developments in the Amathole district municipality’s toilet scandal following another Dispatch report on how the R631-million project was marred by controversy as scores of toilets in some of the villages collapsed, posing a danger to members of the community especially after heavy downpours.
Mdodi said: “The meeting has noted with great astonishment the new media reports on the matter. We therefore reiterate our call that the law enforcement agencies should get closer to the matter as a matter of urgency.”
The meeting also demanded that ADM municipal manager Chris Magwangqana make “all the documentation related to this procurement public for clean and transparent governance”.
A month ago the Dispatch reported that the Siyenza Group, the company hired by ADM as implementing agent for the project to build 66000 toilets in rural villages, was not a registered company.
“As the SACP, it is our firm commitment to fight corruption wherever it raises its ugly head,” Mdodi said.
“It is a stumbling block to the ANC alliance-led government to deliver services to our people.” — zine@dispatch.co.za
Call for probe into tender box tampering allegations
The SACP directed its call to the auditor-general, MEC of cooperative governance and traditional affairs Fikile Xasa, and the police.
This follows a Saturday Dispatch report last week that BCM’s municipal manager Andile Fani allegedly instructed three senior metro officials to remove the box which held tender documents for a multimillion-rand road maintenance project.
But BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi denied there was any wrongdoing when Fani instructed the officials to do an “in loco inspection” as the keys to the box were found to be defective “and an additional lock was installed”.
In fact, Ngesi said: “No tender box has been tampered with or removed. The box is physically built into a wall of the offices and removing it would result in breaking the wall.”
SACP’s provincial spokesman Siyabonga Mdodi said the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC) had “noted with great concern the reports carried in the edition about the alleged interference by the BCM MM Andile Fani”.
The call came as a shock to the party as Fani is an SACP member and serves as the party’s deputy secretary of the Skenjana Roji region.
But Mdodi said the party’s provincial bosses had stated clearly that irrespective of who was implicated in the matter, they were calling “for all relevant authorities (such as) the department of local government and traditional affairs, the auditor-general and all other relevant law enforcement authorities to get closer to the situation and act decisively on any wrongdoing irrespective of who is found to have erred”.
Mdodi said: “We don’t care who is implicated but the police and relevant government departments must investigate what really happened here and bring to book anyone found to have flouted municipal processes.”
The meeting also discussed developments in the Amathole district municipality’s toilet scandal following another Dispatch report on how the R631-million project was marred by controversy as scores of toilets in some of the villages collapsed, posing a danger to members of the community especially after heavy downpours.
Mdodi said: “The meeting has noted with great astonishment the new media reports on the matter. We therefore reiterate our call that the law enforcement agencies should get closer to the matter as a matter of urgency.”
The meeting also demanded that ADM municipal manager Chris Magwangqana make “all the documentation related to this procurement public for clean and transparent governance”.
A month ago the Dispatch reported that the Siyenza Group, the company hired by ADM as implementing agent for the project to build 66000 toilets in rural villages, was not a registered company.
“As the SACP, it is our firm commitment to fight corruption wherever it raises its ugly head,” Mdodi said.
“It is a stumbling block to the ANC alliance-led government to deliver services to our people.” — zine@dispatch.co.za
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