Ex-Buffalo City boss guilty on charges related to R74m tender

21 September 2016 - 14:30 By Zine George
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Suspended Buffalo City Metro (BCM) municipal manager Andile Fani will know his fate on Wednesday after an internal disciplinary hearing found him guilty of all three charges against him.

Former mayor Alfred Mtsi put Fani on suspension last August after the metro’s chief financial officer‚ Vincent Pillay‚ crafted a report which suggested that the accounting officer had flouted the Municipal Finance Management Act when he appointed Cape Town-based company Asla Construction to build houses in Reeston‚ and supply top structures for some at a cost of R74-million.

  • Quick resolution wanted for East London city manager suspended over irregular spendingBuffalo City Metro (BCM) bosses are confident that the case against the metro’s suspended city manager Andile Fani will be settled by August‚ which would be 11 months since he was placed on suspension. 

An investigation into the contract indicated that Asla was only appointed to build houses in Duncan Village‚ yet its scope of work was extended to Reeston even though tender processes were not followed‚ according to a report Mtsi tabled in council last October.

Fani authorised the contract‚ which included project management‚ a geo-technical investigation and an environmental impact assessment.

Fani faced three main charges and was found guilty of:

  • Signing a roads and stormwater tender with Asla without having followed “formal competitive procurement processes”‚ and as a result he failed to take reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised‚ irregular or fruitless expenditure;
  • Flouting procurement procedures when he confirmed the appointment of the same company for the construction of 453 top structures in Reeston’s Stage 3 phase 2; and
  • Flouting supply chain management processes when he approved construction of 550 additional top structures by the same company.

A sum of R2-million had been paid to the company by the time the finance department stopped further payment last year. The company challenged the nonpayment of R7-million due to it in the Grahamstown High Court.

In its defence‚ BCM challenged the lawfulness of its own actions.

BCM won the case‚ and the court declared the awarding of the R74-million Reeston contract as unlawful and set it aside last month‚ reports the Daily Dispatch.

- TMG Digital/Daily Dispatch

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