The City of Tshwane has decided to appeal the outcome of the five officials implicated in the Rooiwaal wastewater treatment plant tender. File Picture
Five officials allegedly linked to the Rooiwaal tender have been suspended by the City of Tshwane.
The municipality investigated the five officials after it emerged they were implicated in wrongdoing regarding the awarding of a tender.
The tender, worth R290 million, was allegedly irregularly awarded.
Businessperson Edwin Sodi was given the tender but it later transpired that very little work was done on the Rooiwaal wastewater treatment plant.
President Cyril Ramaphosa also asked the Special Investigating Unit to probe the tender after it was found that the treatment plant was not fixed.
The City of Tshwane said on Saturday it would appeal the decision of the disciplinary committee, which cleared the officials on some of the charges. It had sought legal opinion after the findings of the internal disciplinary hearing. The legal opinion found that the five officials should have been dismissed.
The municipality said the officials were found guilty in one of the four charges.
“The officials were charged for being grossly negligent and/or derelict in the performance of their duties and that their conduct subsequently led to a breach of various legislation, policies and codes of conduct,“ said the municipality.
Among the charges the five officials faced included that they allowed Sodi’s company Blackhead Consulting “to progress to the next stage of the evaluation without being registered with the Construction Industry Development Board.”
In addition, they were charged for the “inclusion of Blackhead Consulting services to render professional services in the circumstances where the city had already appointed a company to render professional services. Consequently, the city incurred costs of R10,999,786.96”.
The municipality said it was not happy with the outcome of the disciplinary hearing and would appeal the matter.
They had sought legal opinion on the outcome of the hearing, which said the five officials should have been dismissed.
It said it would appeal the entire case at the Labour Court.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics