Pretoria: The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has welcomed a ruling by the Special Tribunal to set aside an R8 million tender awarded by the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP). The tender, which was under investigation by the SIU, was related to the Township Entrepreneurship Awards.
According to South African Government News Agency, the SIU investigation, initiated under Proclamation No. R. 7 of 2021, revealed that the bid submitted by Exclusive Management Services (EMS) was non-responsive due to the omission of a mandatory Standard Bidding Document, submitted 11 months after the closing date. A significant finding was the discrepancy in the bid price, where EMS quoted R8.5 million, whereas the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) considered a price of R7.4 million. Evidence showed EMS had quoted a higher price than another bidder and would have lost the bid if the correct price was used in evaluation.
The investigation further uncovered manipulation within the supply chain management to ensure EMS secured the tender. It was found that the BEC did not evaluate the bidders for price, violating procurement regulations. Additionally, the BAC chairperson signed the BEC report before being officially appointed. During the BAC meeting, the necessary tender documents were absent, leading to an uncritical endorsement of the BEC’s recommendation.
The SIU’s legal action led to the tribunal’s orders, which included the invalidation of the GEP’s Bid Adjudication Committee’s decision on 14 November 2017, approving EMS for the tender. The Service Level Agreement between GEP and EMS, dated 20 December 2017, was also declared invalid.
The SIU emphasized that the investigation found the process lacked fairness, equity, transparency, competitiveness, and cost-effectiveness. Consequently, the SIU initiated a consequence management process, resulting in disciplinary actions at GEP. Tlhalefang Mahlare, the Legal Services Manager, was dismissed, while Nonkululeko Sontsele, the Key Accounts Manager, received a final written warning. Four other officials involved in the referrals resigned from the entity.