The Special Tribunal has set aside an R8 million personal protective equipment contract awarded by the Transport department in 2020.

The contract was awarded to the company, Ecko Green, to supply the taxi industry with personal protective equipment (PPE).

This as the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) application to review and set aside a personal protective equipment PPE contract awarded by the Department of Transport in April 2020 was successful.

The SIU welcomed the tribunal’s judgment in a statement.

“An investigation by the SIU revealed that Ecko Green was not registered on the government’s Central Supplier Database (CSD) when it was awarded the contract. Ecko Green edited details of another company on CSD in April 2020 for the purpose of submitting bid documents to the department.

“The Special Tribunal ruled that the procurement process that led to the awarding of the contract to Ecko Green is declared irregular and unlawful. Ecko Green was awarded a PPE contract despite not being on the department’s supplier database and its name was given to the department by a senior SANTACO [South African National Taxi Council] official.

“The company was ordered to pay the department R1 701 000 plus interest, within 30 days from the date of the order. This amount represents profit derived from the PPE contract,” the SIU said in a statement on Sunday.

The investigation also found that Ecko Green allegedly made a R220 000 payment to a company linked to then SANTACO chief executive officer Nkululeko Buthelezi.

“Buthelezi is the one who handed a list of suppliers to the transport department, which included Ecko Green. When questioned about the payment, Ecko Green director Sharon Bhimjee claimed that the funds were for ‘rendered advisory services’ by Buthelezi and were not associated with the Ecko Green contract.

“[Special Tribunal Judge Lebogang Modiba] stated that had Ecko Green declared its relationship with Buthelezi and disclosed the conflict of interest to the department, Ecko Green would have been excluded from the bidding process. Ecko Green’s failure to disclose Bhimjee’s business associate’s relationship with Buthelezi is grossly irregular, Judge Modiba found,” the SIU said.

Source: South African Government News Agency