Tender dispute stalls Joburg institutional review

The implementations of the City of Johannesburg‘s institutional review is being deferred and readvertised following a tender dispute late last year.

This comes after an agreement made by the City to set aside the award of a tender linked to the development of the review.

The City’s institutional review and staff establishment plan, which was drafted after the election of the new council, was approved by the council in October last year. Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba said the reports presented a new structure to streamline the activities of the City.

The new management structure would report to the City manager, Dr Ndivho Lukhwareni. The new structure will have 12 senior personnel, down from 38, focused on infrastructure services, social services, economic development, core functions like regulatory approvals, policy and compliance and finally, transversal and administration functions which support the City’s internal operations.

But the implementation of this plan was not all smooth sailing. A complaint was lodged by one of the bidders in the tender process for the appointment of a service provider to help the City develop the review.

Valencia Khumalo, the MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, said the complainant approached the court in order to set the tender aside.

“During this court process, the parties came to an agreement that, in this instance, the City’s tender adjudication committee had taken consideration of factors not falling within the specifications of the tender as advertised, whilst assessing the various bids,” she said.

The City and complainant came to an agreement that the tender process would start afresh. Indeed, advertising for the tender was expected to take place soon after.

The mayor’s spokesperson, Luyanda Mfeka said, however, that regardless of who may be appointed to assist with the implementation of the review, the vision and strategies behind it remain that of the mayor and his administration.

“This is the vision council has endorsed,” he said.

“It is a vision squarely based on improving service delivery and to ensure that the organisational structure of the municipality becomes more responsive to the needs of residents, customers, stakeholders, and businesses.”

At the last council sitting, the mayor said he would table a report to council and its oversight committees to explain how the challenges in the tender process had come about. “Once this is done, the council will have an opportunity to decide how best to move forward with the implementation of the review,” Mfeka said.

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