Johannesburg – The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday set aside a controversial City of Tshwane fuel tender that was awarded to three companies. Included in those companies is one that funnelled millions into accounts linked to EFF leader Julius Malema and Secretary-General Marshall Dlamini.
The payments seem to have been kickbacks in connection with the R500 million tender which City awarded in January 2019 to supply it with fuel for a period of three years.
The tender was split between three bidders, including the service provider which held the existing fuel contract, Balimi Barui Trading (BBT).
The company is owned by Hendrick Kganyago, who paid R15million to three companies linked to Malema and Dlamini between the tender being advertised in mid-2018 and last September when the payments were exposed. The EFF’s sizeable minority in the Tshwane council gave it “kingmaker” status.
In the ruling, Judge Leonie Windell cited the “irrational” way in which the tender was evaluated.
BBT, in its bid, offered low figures for fuel the City did not use, its pricing came significantly higher than its rival bidders. “BBT had gamed the system,” said an article by Amabhungane.
The City simply totalled the figures for each fuel type and determined the aggregate price without factoring the quantities of each fuel needed when scoring the bidders’ prices.
