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R71 million Gauteng security tender linked to Siphiwe Nyanda should also be probed

Dear Johannesburg

The new evidence at the Zondo Commission that Transnet gave a R18 million contract to a security company linked to former ANC Cabinet Minister General Siphiwe Nyanda casts new light on a R71 million contract that the Gauteng Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works (GDTRW) gave this company irregularly in October 2007.

According to Bowman Gilfillan director Christopher Todd, the then Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama cancelled an open tender for security services to make way for General Nyanda Security (GNS) to submit an unsolicited bid and it was given the contract in December 2007. Todd also said that GNS didn’t even exist as “It had no prior track record and it was not registered with the regulatory authority Psira it was only registered the following year and more importantly, it had no employees.”

After I laid a complaint with the Public Protector she investigated and recommended that the Gauteng Premier investigate alleged improper conduct in the award of a R71 million security contract without tender to GNS Risk Advisory Services (renamed Abalozi Security) which was part-owned by Siphiwe Nyanda. This contract was only cancelled on 16 March 2010 by former MEC Bheki Nkosi after a legal review found that prescribed procurement processes were not followed and that other companies could do the service at a much lower rate, but R71 million in total had already been paid to this company.

According to the PP’s report, there was “no evidence” that General Nyanda “was directly involved in securing the contract, although by its own admission, the GDTRW did take into consideration his background in the security sector in the award of some of the contracts.” The report also found that “the circumstances under which the contract was issued is cause for concern, particularly as there seems to be a growing trend in this direction, with attendant risks regarding the quality and cost effectiveness of goods and services procured under these circumstances as well as the impact on fair competition.”

More than three years after the PP’s recommendation, the then Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said in March 2014 that President Jacob Zuma had referred the PP’s report to her “a while ago” and she was “quite satisfied” with the pace of the investigation.

It was typical of Mokonyane to pay lip service to corruption investigations and she only responded on the matter because I sent her the PP’s report and asked her a question in the Legislature.

I will request Premier David Makhura to follow up on the tender awarded to GNS and to re-open the investigation if necessary. It is important that there are no cover-ups and there should be consequences for irregularities that waste public money.

Regards

Jack Bloom MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

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