Farm to be put up for tender

All amenities on Horwood’s Farm, which could be utilised to generate income, will be put out to tender as soon as the refurbishment of the homestead is complete.

The popular park and its heritage house will be subject to a Request for Proposal (RFP) due to the number of parties who expressed interest in leasing the property.

Despite their constant involvement in Horwood’s Farm, ward councillors and residents will not be given an opportunity to comment on any of the proposals received, if the tenders are for less than three years.

The park and farmhouse will be the first in Ekurhuleni to undergo the RFP process.

The NEWS has, on numerous occasions, reported that the historical homestead has fallen into disrepair.

In the July 10 edition of the NEWS, it was reported that restoration of the homestead could start as early as November.

The start of the refurbishment, however, depended on the acquisition of a permit from the Heritage Council to commence work on the farm house.

“The tender process was successful and the anticipated date for the contractor to be on site is November. Work should be completed by March 2014,” said municipal spokesperson Mr Samuel Modiba.

Ward 18 councillor, Clr Heather Hart, recently questioned whether rumours that Horwood’s Farm would be subject to an RFP were true.

In response to questions asked by Clr Hart, Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for corporate and shared services Clr Pelisa Nkunjana, said the municipality had never put a leasable entity out on tender or followed the RFP route.

“The Real Estate Department will follow this process in conjunction with the Corporate Legal Services Department to ensure all legal prescriptions and regulatory aspects are complied with,” said Clr Nkunjana.

She added that the timing of the tender process will coincide with the refurbishment of the homestead building.

“The RFP will be advertised as prescribed in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) policy as soon as the tender documents are ready for publication,” said Clr Nkunjana.

“All the amenities on Horwood’s Farm which could possibly be utilised economically, will be included,” she said.

The city manager will nominate officials and representatives from various Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) departments on a rotational basis who will then sit on the Tender Evaluation Committee to evaluate the proposals.

When Clr Hart questioned whether she as ward councillor would be given an opportunity to comment on any proposals received, she was told she would not.

“Ward councillors will not be given the opportunity to comment on any of the proposals received. Adjudication of proposals rests with the Bids Evaluation Committee (BEC) and the results are reported to council,” Clr Nkunjana said.

In addition, public participation will only be done if the tender is for a period of longer than three years.

“The adjudication criteria will take into account normal tender provisions as well as the past experience of the tenderer, the financial stability and ability to meet future rental obligations, the optimum utilisation of all the amenities on the farm, to what extent the proposal is community based, possible empowerment and upliftment opportunities and so on,” said Clr Nkunjana.

The tender documents will include a list of guidelines for the preferred usages of the land.