Sodi. who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Blackhead Consulting, which was awarded a R255 million tender in a joint venture with Diamond Hill Trading, stands accused of failing to deliver on what he signed up for.

This, as the commission heard that the provincial Human Settlements Department awarded the Blackhead Consulting and Diamond Hill Trading joint venture the 2014 contract despite the two companies not having accreditation to remove asbestos material.

Sodi testified in August that they were not in a position to remove any asbestos material from the houses they had agreed to audit, as they were not accredited, but could only "audit and assess" the houses.

The businessman who stands accused of making a R600 000 payment towards the purchase of a Ranger Rover for the department's former Director, Thabane Zulu, told the commission the multimillion-rand asbestos project was set to unfold in two phases. He explained that the first phase entailed the audit of houses, and the second phase was the removal thereof - which they planned to sub-contract.

Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, has in her investigative report indicated major flaws with the contract awarded to this joint venture indicating that the department failed to follow proper procurement processes.

She said the Free State was in possession of the Gauteng Department's Service Legal Agreement, which had expired.  Mkhwebane further stated that the department went ahead to pay the service provider despite the Auditor-General having declared the procurement as irregular as early as 31 July 2015.

Mkhwebane said, "the department created the impression that they participated in a contract concluded by another state institution [Gauteng Department] while the services were not the same as specified in the existing contract and also the price was higher."

She said this was in contravention of Treasury regulations and amounts to improper conduct. She said their findings also indicate that the service provider - Blackhead Consulting and Diamond Hill Trading joint venture - had subcontracted the contract at a fee of just over R21 million, while they were paid over R230 million.

Sodi is expected to give evidence relating to this project before the commission at 11:30.

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