Special Tribunal declares extension of R4.8 million Covid-19 contract unlawful

The Special Tribunal set aside the controversial R4.8 million Eastern Cape Covid-19 door-to-door awareness contract on Wednesday.

The R4.8 million Covid-19 tender awarded to Phathilizwi Training Institute in January 2019 for the O.R Tambo District municipality was declared unlawful and invalid.

Phathilizwi Training Institute was supposed to conduct Covid-19 awareness campaigns for the community.

The institute was ordered to pay for the Special Tribunal’s legal fees.

The Special Tribunal ordered the municipality not to pay two tax invoices to the amount of R3,036,000 and R1,821,600 for the services allegedly rendered by the training institute as part of the unlawful contract.

Tender for community outreach programme

Phathilizwi Training Institute was initially meant to conduct a community outreach programme in the O.R Tambo municipality for 12 months.

However, on 24 February 2020, the municipality extended the tender by six months.

“The extended tender was for a completely different activity, namely a Covid-19 door-to-door campaign,” said the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

The SIU revealed that the municipality failed to comply with the emergency procurement process when extending the contract.

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