South Africa
Former Western Cape officials ordered to pay back PPE money─── KEKELETSO MOSEBETSI 09:30 Fri, 30 Jun 2023
Three former Matzikama Local Municipal workers in the Western Cape were ordered to pay back hundreds of thousands of rands lost after Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) tender collusion.
The Matzikama Local Municipality includes the towns of Vredendal, Vanrhynsdorp, Klawer and Lutzville.
Judge Johannes Daffue of the Special Tribunal ordered the three municipal officials to pay back R400 027.50 for colluding with Duneco CC, a company operated by Nicolaas Jacobus Klazen, to award a PPE tender. The order follows an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
The SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, said the investigation at the Matzikama Local Municipality revealed that the former municipal officials Aldrich Hendricks, Isak Edward Jenner, and Jafta Booysen colluded with Klazen to award a PPE tender to Duneco CC to supply gloves and masks without following supply chain management processes governing public procurement.
Kganyago detailed that the investigations also revealed that in March 2020 the Acting Municipal Manager, Lionel Phillips, established a Covid-19 team to arrange for the purchase of PPE products following the announcement of the hard lockdown.
Shortly after, a municipal official was instructed to obtain quotes for PPE and the official then sent out written requests for quotations to certain suppliers. The closing date was 1 April 2020 at 12h00. It’s understood that four suppliers responded.
Kganyago added that Hendricks replaced Phillips as Acting Municipal Manager on 1 April 2020 and on that same day, he was provided with the quotations obtained. On 2 April 2020, Hendricks disbanded the Covid-19 team and appointed Jenner as the Covid-19 co-ordinating officer. On the same day, Klazen of Duneco and Hendricks had a telephone conversation about the supply of PPE to the municipality. Klazen deposited money in the bank account of Hendricks' wife before the tender was awarded. This after Klazen failed to disclose his relationship with Hendricks.
Three former Western Cape municipal officials have been ordered to jointly pay back R400 027.50 by Judge Johannes Daffue of the Special Tribunal for colluding with Duneco CC, a company operated by Nicolaas Jacobus Klazen, to award a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) tender. pic.twitter.com/eVGk0stiQu
— Special Investigating Unit (SIU) (@RSASIU) June 29, 2023
“On 23 June 2023, the Special Tribunal agreed with the findings of the SIU investigation and declared that a decision taken by Hendricks, as the acting municipal manager in April 2020, is declared irregular and invalid.
The Tribunal ordered that Hendricks, Jenner, and Booysen must jointly pay the amount of R400 027.50 to the municipality, with interest as calculated from 22 April 2020. Booysen is the former Chief Financial Officer.
The municipal officials resigned after the SIU investigation commenced. Booysen and Hendricks are now employed as municipal managers at the Laingsburg Local Municipality and Prince Albert Local Municipality in the Western Cape respectively. Jenner is a former MEC of Cultural Affairs, Sport, and Recreation, said Kganyago.
He added that President Cyril Ramaphosa had authorised the SIU to investigate allegations of corruption, malpractice, maladministration, and irregularities in the procurement of, and contracting for goods, works and/or services during the Covid-19 state of disaster.
Kganyago says three municipal officials and Klazen were arrested by the Hawks in May 2022 and were charged with fraud for allegedly colluding with the service provider Duneco. They were released on R5 000 bail each. The matter is expected to be enrolled at the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville in July 2023.
