THE HEALTH department in Limpopo has been accused of awarding a multimillion-rand coal tender irregularly after saying it was flawed following the department “hand-picking” the bidders.
The five-year tender that was advertised in mid-2022 for a coal contract meant to deliver firetube boiler coal to various hospitals across Limpopo is estimated to be more than R20 million.
However, the Forum for Limpopo Entrepreneurs (FOLE), mandated to be the watchdogs of tender processes between government and business contractors to ensure transparency, have raised a red flag to the process accusing the department of “hand-picking” their preferred candidates before awarding the tender.
The forum further accuses the department that the flawed evaluation process involved a “price negotiation committee” which, according to the forum, was unheard of in the tendering process.
They also accuse the department of fixing their prices after they claimed to some of the bidders their prices were below market value but they awarded the contract to a bidder with the lowest price.
When reached, the department said all issues relating to the coal tender in the department were under investigation by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU). “We want anyone who has any kind of information that can assist in the investigation to take that piece of information to the SIU. Until such time that the SIU concludes the investigation, we reserve the right not to comment any further on the matter,” the department’s spokesperson Neil Shikwambana said.
An official document seen by the Sunday Independent alleged that three companies that were more successful in the bidding process, Nebo Coal, Serenity Coal and Jamiscore had the same business address stated in the document number 17 Klippoortjie Farm.
Other documents, seen by the Sunday Independent, state that the members of the department's tender adjudication committee, chaired by Cornelius Maphoto, were also members of the “price negotiating committee” which the forum saw as a conflict of interest.
Our investigation revealed that in a tender process for the government departments there were three phases that were overseen by three committees, namely the specification committee, bid evaluation committee and the bid adjudication committee.
None of the committee members can play a part in any other committee meaning they can only be part of one committee within the whole process.
However, the documents in the Sunday Independent’s possession state that Maphoto who was the chairperson of the bid adjudication committee was also part of the “price negotiation” committee.
The Forum’s secretary Mabunda Siviko said: “There were no evaluation processes but the department just hand-picked their preferred companies and they formed a so-called ‘Negotiating Price Committee’ of which we never heard of in the Public Finance Management Act (PMFA).
“Even the chairperson of the bid adjudication committee was part of this price negotiating committee,” he said.
He said they tried registering their complaints to the health department but their complaints fell on deaf ears.
“We complained about this to the department and they promised to investigate and revert back to us but nothing happened.
“Many of the companies belonging to the forum bidded but they were excluded because they were not their preferred companies,” he said. “The very same chairperson of the BEC Mr Maphoto NC who wrote that memo is the very same person whom the Department of Public Works asked the Health Department to charge him.
“He was also part of the price negotiation/justification committee…in fact we as FOLE want to know what the price negotiation/justification committee is?”
“The delegated authority appointed a price negotiation team......who are those delegated authority and who appointed them?...shockingly they quoted below market value but they even negotiated far below the market value but they were awarded the contracts.
“I suspect there was a secret meeting that was held between the top officials of Health and companies’ directors to cook prices…and how do three companies bidding for the same thing have the same address?” Mabunda said.
It's not the first time the department has been accused of questionable tender dealings. In 2021 the department's head Thokozani Mhlongo was suspended after awarding a R185 million contract to supply Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) despite it not appearing on the official database of suppliers.