Allegations of R900m in tenders awarded to Julius Malema allies surfaced

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23-01-2014
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The New Age
Source

The tender will be re-advertised so that construction can go ahead, the Limpopo department of human settlements has said.

The investigation came after allegations surfaced that tenders worth R900m had been awarded to allies of Economic Freedom Fighter leader, Julius Malema.

These included businessman Selby Manthata and his wife Helen Moroeroa, who are facing charges of corruption and racketeering with Malema.

Others implicated were Matome Hlabiosa, Collins Foromo and Mohammed Dada.

Subsequently the head of the human settlement department Nnana Manamela was fired after an internal investigation.

Department spokesperson, Motupa Selomo said the tender would be re-advertised.

The investigation found there was non- adherence to the specified bid evaluation and adjudication criteria during the procurement processes.

After the probe, the national Human Settlements Department made specific recommendations to implement before the grant could be released.

Among the recommendations by investigators that have been implemented are:

• Termination of the contract for the construction of low cost houses for the 2013-14 financial year and its contracts due to noncompliance with prescripts that govern procurement in the public service

• Disciplinary action to be taken against officials involved in the awarding of the contract

• Review of the human settlements procurement process to avoid a repeat of this situation attacks on Somali nationals in the Eastern Cape,” she said.

She called on President Jacob Zuma not to sign into law the Protection of State Information Act until protection of whistle blowers and other issues were addressed.

Police spokesperson Zweli Mnisi recently said: “We are concerned when we hear about reports of police who abuse their powers.