Free state tenderpreneur scores big

Mike Mokoena, the owner of soccer club Free State Stars, gives added meaning to "tenderpreneurship", the newly coined South Africa term for connected businessmen who have amassed vast fortunes through government tenders.

Although his soccer club might be languishing in the doldrums in SA soccer, Mokoena and his wife and sons have scored big with 14 tenders awarded by the Free State provincial government over the past seven years. Through winning a number of small tenders, Mokoena's tender empire is worth more than R100-million.

But the soccer boss is unabashed about his activities. "My life is to tender. I apply for tenders, that's my lifestyle. I've got guys dealing with tenders full time. I'm not ashamed to say that's my lifestyle."

And a lifestyle it certainly is. Through companies run by his wife Joyce and sons, Mokoena has been able to score six tenders from the Free State Department of Social Welfare to supply food parcels, and another eight from the Department of Education for school feeding schemes.

Mokoena's managing accountant, Rob Fair, mentioned an additional tender worth R3.6-million for textbooks and stationery, which has now expired.

The provincial social welfare department has awarded a string of lucrative tenders to Mokoena and his family in recent years through a web of closed corporations.

These include:

• Rocket Trading 40, which is 25% owned by his wife Joyce. It has the tender to provide food parcels to Bethlehem;
• Rocket Trading 18, 25% owned by Joyce and 5% by his late son Molefe, landed a 2002 tender to provide parcels to Senekal;
• Ethos Trading 13, run by his two sons Frank and Rantsi Mokoena, won a tender in 2003 to provide parcels for Sasolburg; and
• Silver Solutions 124 CC, of which Mokoena is the only director, provides food parcels to Welkom.

Apart from these contracts, Mokoena and his family also won tenders from the provincial education department in 2006.

These tenders include:

• A R6.2-million contract given to Flowerdew 142 CC, of which Joyce is the only director, for two tenders to provide food for schools in the Mophaka and Metsimaholo municipalities;
• A R3.2-million school nutrition tender won by Prestprops 1295 CC, of which Rantsi and Kootso Mokoena are directors;
• A tender to provide food packages to orphans in the Masilonyana and Matjhabeng districts was won by Tamasa Trading 489, of which Kootso is the only director; and
• Silver Shadow 503, which is run by Frank, landed a R43-million contract to provide cooked meals for pupils within the Mangaung municipality.

Mokoena maintains that his wife has no tender for Flowerdew. "That's rubbish," he says. But a document confirms the existence of this contract.

In addition, other tenders, such as a R43-million contract to provide school nutrition to the Mantsopa municipality, was won by Razemba Venture 62 - whose only director is Rantsi.

"They (my family) are entitled to tender; I teach them how to tender," says Mike.

He maintains that his sons are independent. ''They've got families. I've taught them how to tender. Whenever we get a tender, we're always the lowest (price)," Mokoena says.

Officials in the South African Social Services Agency (Sassa) appear to have been aware of the close links.

For example, although the Sassa tender to provide food parcels in Welkom is held by Silver Solutions 124, it was MDC Catering (another Mokoena company) and not Silver Solutions that wrote to Sassa on December 9 2009, asking if it could "substitute the Econo maize meal with Impala (maize meal) due to the fact that our suppliers cannot get the Econo" in Welkom.

On June 24 2008, Sassa wrote to Rocket Trading 40, trading as Itekeng Mafumahadi, discussing "price adjustments" for food parcels in various municipalities for which separate companies - such as Silver Solutions and Rocket Trading 18 - supposedly have the tenders.

The parliamentary leader of the Democratic Alliance, Athol Trollip says tenderpreneurs like Mokoena have become possible since councillors were removed from tender boards about two years ago.

This, he believes, has opened the doors for the likes of Mokoena to flourish from tendering. "If you're well enough connected it makes the whole system prone to corruption.

''This is a consequence of protected employment where government officials are appointed on political affiliation and not on merit.

"It makes the whole civil service questionable," Trollip says.

Mokoena said he is re-applying for all the tenders that have expired and that they are about to be awarded. "They are trying to rubbish me to influence this," he said.